# Yanks. Is it common/normal to omit the goodbye from routine phonecalls? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 28, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996 "2008-07-28T23:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/1 "2008-07-28T23:07:23Z")
I’m being deilberately rude and saying ‘Yanks’ instead of ‘People of America’ because I’m watching a DVD of House and he is making being rude seem like a cool thing to be. Anyway, Is it common in your country to end a phonecall without saying ‘bye’ or an alternative? I speak to Americans quite a lot in my job. We say ‘bye’ to them. And their returning ‘bye’ sounds as if they were not expecting to be saying it. It sounds nervous and forced. In fact… Often, what they actually say is “Ummmbye” (or um, bye) as if they are doing the ‘erm’ that is the verbal sign of having to think, and then adding the ‘bye’ ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/2 "2008-07-28T23:09:52Z")
I have a number of friends who don’t say “bye” when they end a phone call. I always find it rude. Most people I speak to end a phone call with goodbye, or 'bye. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/3 "2008-07-28T23:11:52Z")
Not that I’ve noticed. But then I don’t talk on the phone that much. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/4 "2008-07-28T23:12:04Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Anyway, Is it common in your country to end a phonecall without saying ‘bye’ or an alternative? [/QUOTE] It’s very abnormal. In fact, it’s something that’s mentioned as being reality only in the universe of television and the movies, along with coffeehouse baristas being able to afford luxury apartments in Manhattan, word processors with no cursors and a minimum 24 point display font, and families who eat dinner by crowding around one side of the table leaving the other side empty, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/5 "2008-07-28T23:13:29Z")
For the most part, I think this is just a movie/TV time saver. I suppose some people I know do say ‘Talk to you later’ or ‘Have a great day,’ but there’s always a definite ending. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/6 "2008-07-28T23:18:27Z")
I was actually going to say in the OP (giving more thought to wording) “Or is it just on TV” But I forgot. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/7 "2008-07-28T23:21:21Z")
What if the conversation is between two people in the same profession (which would increase the likelihood of the call being routine) If A person I am calling has sufficiently pissed me off the call might not end with a bye. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/8 "2008-07-28T23:23:21Z")
I don’t say goodbye, but I never just hang up, and neither does anyone I know. It’s usually “Bye now” or “Talk to you later” or “Gotta go now” or “Okay, thanks” or “Love you”. You have to say something, don’t you, to let the other person know the conversation is finished? ---
**Author:** ![Soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/9 "2008-07-28T23:24:01Z")
With my friends, we usually just hang up when the call is through. If it’s someone I don’t know as well, or someone I’m talking to in a professional setting, we usually exchange proper greetings. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/10 "2008-07-28T23:24:59Z")
It’s just movies/TV. As a hijack, I’m always amused when Brits half-apologize for “rudely” calling Americans “Yanks.” I don’t find “Yank” rude. Maybe it’s rude of me, not taking it seriously enough to be offended. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/11 "2008-07-28T23:25:38Z")
Depends on the circumstances for me. In social things–always say good bye. At work, docs and nurses don’t always, neither do other staff and nurses. House is a rule unto himself–I wouldn’t use him as the arbiter of all things American. 😉 I think Yank might be rude in the deep south, but even there… from a Brit? I don’t see the offense. I don’t see the offense when anyone does it, I am just not a rural New Englander so it doesn’t fit me…(if another American calls me that). ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/12 "2008-07-28T23:25:43Z")
I have several friends from the east coast - mostly New Jersey, a couple from Boston, who all moved out to San Francisco in the early 90s (in college together, all moved west at the same time). NONE of them ever say any variant of “bye” when ending a phone call, which took my Midwest-reared self a while to get past. (“Did he just hang up on me?”) I have therefore concluded that everyone from the East Coast is a rude b—kidding. 🙂 But the fact remains that they don’t say “bye” for whatever reason, and they’re not on TV, so there’s a data point for you. 10 of them, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/13 "2008-07-28T23:40:45Z")
I work in a call center and a good percentage of my calls end without the caller saying good bye. Or for that matter, thank you. I don’t particularly mind the lack of good byes but being hung up on without a thank you pisses me right off. It’s like, they get the information they want and I am therefore no longer of value and may be dismissed like just another piece of equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Lavender\_Falcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b782af/32.png) [@Lavender\_Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lavender_Falcon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/14 "2008-07-28T23:41:15Z")
Certain types of calls at work don’t end with a “Bye” or any kind of wrapping up words. If it’s a regularly scheduled meeting with a bunch of people calling in from different locations, nobody bothers. It’s too confusing, and everybody knows when the meeting ends, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/15 "2008-07-28T23:43:43Z")
I usually end with “love you, bye” or “bye” or at least “thanks” in a professional level. As for the term “yank” I was never called that until I moved to the South, wherein I proclaimed with frustation - “But I’m a Red Sox Fan!!” ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/16 "2008-07-29T00:04:27Z")
I get a disturbing number of such calls at work (my job involves answering calls) and it strikes me as rude every time. It drives me insane. How do I know you’re through? I tend to interpret somebody not saying it as being hung up on because somebody is mad. But on TV I expect it’s to save time. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/17 "2008-07-29T00:05:05Z")
We say good by or something at the end, unless it’s an unsolicited phone call. Telemarketers have killed a lot of polite practices people had on the phone. A salesperson, political or charity solicitor will get hung up on without a good by. Blame it on the telemarketer. ---
**Author:** ![BrknButterfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BrknButterfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrknButterfly)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/18 "2008-07-29T02:03:32Z")
Normally when I talk on the phone outside of work it is always to double check or confirm something. Even then the phone call ends with something like, “Oh okay. Just checking, later.” Generally I can tell by the tone that the call is going to end and most the time I don’t even say, “later”. Mostly… “alright” and hang up. If I am at work I try to end it with, “Have a good day.” And hang up. I generally only use “bye” when I want to piss someone off. Example, A guy I was seeing upset me and I ended with, “Whatever, Bye.” and he answer, “What are you trying to tell me?” I guess that is because I never use it. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/19 "2008-07-29T02:14:06Z")
On mobile phones people have a tendency here to say bye a load of times. Conversations typically end with “Bye, bye, b-b-b-b-bye, bye” or something like that. I think it’s partly because there isn’t a final act of putting the phone down physically like on a landline. It’s bye until you manage to press the red/off button on your mobile. I find the habit really irritating but some people find just one “Bye” to be rude and to cut the conversation short. This common anywhere else? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996/20 "2008-07-29T02:35:59Z")
I just watched the entire run of _Kyle XY_, where there were tons of phone calls throughout the series, and I don’t think a single one of them ended with a “goodbye,” even when it was a romantically charged conversation. And it drives me nuts, too, because it’s left hanging, like it’s incomplete, and this actively bothers me for a long time afterwards. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yanks-is-it-common-normal-to-omit-the-goodbye-from-routine-phonecalls/457996.md?page=2)