In the US, we said "the phone book" to be generic. The specific books were always specific.
As in "Did you look him up in the phone book?" which might be answered "I couldn't find him in the White Pages, but the phone's probably in his mom's name and I think she has a different last name, so that might be why. I think she has a business but I don't even know what industry so the Yellow Pages don't help here."
As in "Did you look him up in the phone book?" which might be answered "I couldn't find him in the White Pages, but the phone's probably in his mom's name and I think she has a different last name, so that might be why. I think she has a business but I don't even know what industry so the Yellow Pages don't help here."