We Brits are well known for being indirect – “I’m sorry…” “I’m afraid…” “On this occasion you have not been successful” “It seems that….” “It looks like…” and so on. We try to “soften the blow” even more on the ‘phone because the other person has only our voice to go on. We say “I’m afraid I seem to have been cut off” instead of “I’ve been cut off” – when being cut off on the ‘phone is very obvious and definite and it’s not our fault.
Add to that all the notorious English phrasal verbs and there’s no wonder the ‘phone is daunting for the English language learner. The unseen person on the other end can put them through, but there are other prepositions which can go after “put”: put up/on/by/behind/over/before/around/off, which change the meaning completely. We can be cut off (passive voice, just to add to the load), but (especially in the car) we can cut up, in or through.
In the book “How to be British” by Martyn Ford, we’re given cartoon “lessons” called “Get around in English”. Lesson 11 is called “On the ‘phone”…
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