ghost call
a silent phone call dialled from a mobile phone by mistake
TRANSLATION
ghost call = unbemerkt getätigter Anruf vom Handy, Geisteranruf --- GOOGLE INDEX ghost call: approximately 15,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
One added problem for the emergency teams, particularly at this time of the year, is the inadvertent GHOST CALL made on mobile phones.
(The Evening Gazette)
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To some extent, a mobile phone is a curse too. False rings, threatening calls and GHOST CALLS can frighten one. All these lead to mental tension. Besides, there are no fixed hours for the mobile calls to ring. If we are meditating or worshipping the mobile phone may ring and disturb us.
(www.merinews.com)
(The Evening Gazette)
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To some extent, a mobile phone is a curse too. False rings, threatening calls and GHOST CALLS can frighten one. All these lead to mental tension. Besides, there are no fixed hours for the mobile calls to ring. If we are meditating or worshipping the mobile phone may ring and disturb us.
(www.merinews.com)
Did you
know?
ghost call
noun/verb
- a silent phone call received from a person who has inadvertently dialled or selected the number on their mobile phone
noun
- ghost caller
(www.wordspy.com)
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WORD ORIGIN
Anyone who owns a mobile phone has generated a ghost call at least once in their life, if not multiple times. As the Urban Dictionary describes it, a ghost call occurs when you "unintentionally and unknowingly call someone with your cell phone redial/speedial because you did not lock your keypad and the exposed buttons were pressed by keys in the pocket, by sitting on your phone for example."
This is something to keep in mind the next time the phone rings and there is silence. The first reaction is to repeatedly say "hello," followed by other less polite words and expressions. Unfortunately with a ghost call, anything that is said simply disappears into the ether.
Ghost calls can be costly, as the Orange County (California) Register reported in 2003 in an interview with California Highway Patrol (CHP) telecommunications supervisor Bill Harry:
"In California, almost all 911 emergency calls from cellular phones go to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), while landline 911 calls go to local dispatchers. In Orange County, the CHP communications center in Irvine gets about 900,000 911 calls a year — and believe it or not, roughly 40 percent of those calls are mistakes and misdials by people fumbling with their cell phones."
Ghost calls go by other names like butt call, which refers to an unintended phone call placed by sitting on one's mobile phone. The popularity of mobile phones has created other creative expressions:
Swiss army phone — a mobile phone that includes multiple non-voice features such as a digital camera, digital audio player and electronic organizer
candy bar phone — a mobile phone with no lid and with a rectangular shape that resembles a traditional candy bar
rescue call — a call to a mobile phone placed at a prearranged time to give the person being called an excuse to end a date or other social engagement
stage phoning — attempting to impress nearby people by talking on a mobile phone in an animated, theatrical manner
*Note - Mobile phone and cellular phone are interchangeable terms, with mobile being used mostly in the UK and cell primarily in the U.S.
(sources: Wordspy.com)
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"For the emergency services ghost calls are a real problem."
noun/verb
- a silent phone call received from a person who has inadvertently dialled or selected the number on their mobile phone
noun
- ghost caller
(www.wordspy.com)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Anyone who owns a mobile phone has generated a ghost call at least once in their life, if not multiple times. As the Urban Dictionary describes it, a ghost call occurs when you "unintentionally and unknowingly call someone with your cell phone redial/speedial because you did not lock your keypad and the exposed buttons were pressed by keys in the pocket, by sitting on your phone for example."
This is something to keep in mind the next time the phone rings and there is silence. The first reaction is to repeatedly say "hello," followed by other less polite words and expressions. Unfortunately with a ghost call, anything that is said simply disappears into the ether.
Ghost calls can be costly, as the Orange County (California) Register reported in 2003 in an interview with California Highway Patrol (CHP) telecommunications supervisor Bill Harry:
"In California, almost all 911 emergency calls from cellular phones go to the California Highway Patrol (CHP), while landline 911 calls go to local dispatchers. In Orange County, the CHP communications center in Irvine gets about 900,000 911 calls a year — and believe it or not, roughly 40 percent of those calls are mistakes and misdials by people fumbling with their cell phones."
Ghost calls go by other names like butt call, which refers to an unintended phone call placed by sitting on one's mobile phone. The popularity of mobile phones has created other creative expressions:
Swiss army phone — a mobile phone that includes multiple non-voice features such as a digital camera, digital audio player and electronic organizer
candy bar phone — a mobile phone with no lid and with a rectangular shape that resembles a traditional candy bar
rescue call — a call to a mobile phone placed at a prearranged time to give the person being called an excuse to end a date or other social engagement
stage phoning — attempting to impress nearby people by talking on a mobile phone in an animated, theatrical manner
*Note - Mobile phone and cellular phone are interchangeable terms, with mobile being used mostly in the UK and cell primarily in the U.S.
(sources: Wordspy.com)
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"For the emergency services ghost calls are a real problem."
