# Answering the phone **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 28, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261 "2024-12-28T14:17:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/1 "2024-12-28T14:17:13Z")
Has anyone here adopted the gruff “Talk to me” from The Fugitive, when the one-armed guy answers the phone? “Ahoy” died in birth, and “Hello” has had a good run. Time for a change. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/2 "2024-12-28T15:18:31Z")
I’ve gone from “Hello” to “This is (my first name)”. That avoids the “Can I speak to (my first name)?” as well as the “Is this (my first name)?” questions. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/3 "2024-12-28T15:32:44Z")
Nothing more than “Yes?” is needed. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/4 "2024-12-28T15:36:00Z")
I like the Italian “pronto!”. Short and effective. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/5 "2024-12-28T15:36:31Z")
“Hello, Beitz residence, this is Peter”. 99% of the time they want to speak with Dolly. Almost nobody calls me on the home phone and the only reason we even have it is because it’s included in our cable package. Getting rid of it doesn’t lower the bill so why bother? My bestest buddy growing up mom always answered “It’s your dime, get talking!” That was cute the first ten thousandth time I heard it. After that it just sounded rude and aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/6 "2024-12-28T15:41:10Z")
I often go with Hola! just to add confusion. If I hear a click indicating the robo dialer has switched to a live person, I hang up. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/7 "2024-12-28T15:44:59Z")
Yo! Whattya want? Talk to me! Moshi moshi! Pizza land what’ll ya have? Wrong number! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/8 "2024-12-28T15:45:05Z")
I just go with an old-fashioned “hello”. Back when I had an office job with a direct line that rang a lot, I’d answer “solost speaking”, saying my first name. But that often got made fun of, when the person on the other end would answer “[their first name] speaking”. So I think I eventually switched to “this is solost”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/9 "2024-12-28T15:46:57Z")
These days, I see who’s calling, so I can be more casual, depending on who it is. “Hey–What’s up?” is a standard greeting for me. (I don’t answer unknown phone numbers.) In the landline days or when I need to be more formal, it’s either “Hello” or, probably more often, “Hello, this is Peter.” When I answered phones (among many other duties) for a small law office, the phone was answered with a curt “law offices” and nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/10 "2024-12-28T15:47:04Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Nothing more than “Yes?” is needed. I don’t like to offer spammers an affirmative to record, despite the unlikelihood that the [urban legends](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_you_hear_me%3F_(alleged_telephone_scam)) have any truth to them. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/11 "2024-12-28T15:56:01Z")
If the aim is to be annoying, say “please stand by for the next operator”, and then sing the hold music. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/12 "2024-12-28T16:01:12Z")
Who still answers their phone? More seriously, over the years I’ve gravitated to “This is [firstname]” if I’m answering a call from an unknown number or a business or I’m on a phone other than my own mobile. For calls that I know are from someone’s mobile I’ll usually answer “Hi [your first name]”. What gets tricky is when you know one person in a small biz and end up with one of the company phone numbers associated with their name. I try to keep my contacts curated so I can tell the difference between Bob Smith himself calling versus somebody from Bob’s SmithCo calling. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/13 "2024-12-28T16:12:59Z")
My phone number is almost identical to the Apple Store in Honolulu and I get a fair number of wrong numbers for them. Once in a while I will answer an unknown number with, “Hello, this is not the Apple Store,” which produces either amusement or confusion depending on whether the caller was trying to reach Apple. But usually I answer like @LSLGuy - “This is CairoCarol” to unknown numbers (which yes, I do answer because my community activities make it fairly likely I’ll get legitimate calls from new numbers, and I get almost no phone spam). And “Hi, Cindi” or whoever to recognized callers. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/14 "2024-12-28T16:42:34Z")
Anymore when certain people call I answer by asking “Who died?”. And then they tell me who is dead or the status of someones hospitalization. Sucks getting older, no one calls with good news that much anymore. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/15 "2024-12-28T16:51:34Z")
With caller ID, I just say “Hi Mary” or whomever is calling. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/16 "2024-12-28T17:09:39Z")
We deleted our landline this month, and my cell phone has a feature that interrogates unrecognized callers with “this person is using Google phone screening”. Callers who reach that stage hang up 99% of the time. When I recognize the caller, I greet them by name. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/17 "2024-12-28T17:13:45Z")
in the 1990s I worked with a coworker who would answer his desk phone like this: “Hello, this is Steve Teller. How may I serve you?” I would always crack up laughing after I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/18 "2024-12-28T17:20:24Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Back when I had an office job with a direct line that rang a lot, I’d answer “solost speaking”, saying my first name. But that often got made fun of, when the person on the other end would answer “[their first name] speaking”. Why was that “making fun of”? Seems to me to be an entirely cromulent reply. These days I generally just say “hello”; at least, unless I’ve picked up one of the phones which tell me who’s calling, in which case I might say “Hi, [Name}.” Years ago, I used to often answer by saying “Telephone!” but that seemed to cause confusion. (Telemarketers are often very easily confused. If the response to my “Hello” is “Is this [Myname}?” I generally say “Speaking.” A surprising number of them have no idea what to do with that.) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/19 "2024-12-28T17:31:13Z")
A character in a book series I’ve read would answer the phone by saying: “Articulate”. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261/20 "2024-12-28T17:53:06Z")
I like the way Detective Cameron (Tom Atkins in _Night of The Creeps_) answers the phone: “Thrill me”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/answering-the-phone/1012261.md?page=2)