# Yet Another Regionalism Thread: calling "off" from work **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199 "2008-10-16T13:39:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/21 "2008-10-17T13:48:17Z")
I live in Ohio (and have most of my life) and it seems that I hear both, but it depends on where I’m at. Not geographically, but every office I’ve been in is different. Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/22 "2008-10-17T19:04:01Z")
I “call in sick.” (CA, SF Bay Area). I jokingly refer to it as “calling in dead” or “taking a mental health day” (if I’m not physically sick but just can’t face going in) and I’ve heard others refer to it similarly. Mostly, though, it’s “calling in sick.” I’ve never heard “calling off” around here. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/23 "2008-10-17T21:31:08Z")
I grew up in Ohio and I always heard “call in sick”, but my wife (also from Ohio) says “call off”. I actually thought she picked it up in California, where we lived for a while, or possibly from the medical field. But I wouldn’t rule out it being an Ohio thing. Speech patterns are changing in Ohio. Don’t get me started about “Cuyahawga” versus “Cuyahoaga”. Someone should write a book about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/24 "2008-10-17T21:32:27Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > News to this Australian, who has been calling in sick all his life. I have NEVER heard “calling off sick”. > Though, of course, it’s usually just “pulling a sickie”. Ditto. In _your_ part of Australia, it might be “Calling off sick”, down here you “Call in sick” or “chuck a sickie” Australia’s a big place, we have more than one regional dialect too y’know. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/25 "2008-10-17T21:44:45Z")
I hear it both ways here in a California hospital. sometimes they might call me off if census is low, _I_ usually call in sick, or just ‘call in’ if I’ve lost the will to go on, but I hear co-workers referred to as having called off. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/26 "2008-10-17T22:01:52Z")
Ohio, so: Call off. Oh, and needs washed. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/27 "2008-10-17T22:51:08Z")
I say “call off.” I’ve spent roughly half of my working life in PA, and half in Southwestern Louisiana. I know I’ve heard people here in PA say “call off,” and I’m almost positive that people said it in LA, as well. I’ve also heard “call in sick” in PA - not sure about LA, but probably. “Call out” just sounds weird as hell and I know I’ve never heard anyone say it. I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard “call off sick,” either, but it’s possible, since it wouldn’t have sounded quite as jarring to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/28 "2008-10-17T23:20:10Z")
Never heard “call off” in my life. I’ve worked in California, Michigan, and Illinois. It’s always been “call in”. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/29 "2008-10-17T23:29:23Z")
Yep, that’s here in Pittsburgh-in fact, I called off today due to a grand mal seizure sometime in the middle of the night. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/30 "2008-10-18T05:11:40Z")
Toronto area here - call in sick. Never heard anything else. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199/31 "2008-10-18T05:42:22Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Down here in the Deep South, people call in because they’re gonna “lay out” today. :dubious: Hmmm…here that would imply they are not ill, but dead :eek: I hear call in or called out about equally, but never called off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-regionalism-thread-calling-off-from-work/468199.md?page=1)