he is at my beck and call
he is ready to do anything I ask
TRANSLATION
at someone's beck and call = auf Abruf zur Verfügung stehen --- GOOGLE INDEX (at someone's) beck and call: approximately 350,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
By sending their soldiers into battle, the Pakistani generals risk giving the impression that Pakistan's army acts at the BECK AND CALL of the United States.
(The London Daily Telegraph)
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"I guess I'll be at the BECK AND CALL of people with money all my life, but thank God I won't ever again have to be at the beck and call of every idiot who's got two cents to buy a stamp."
- American writer William Faulkner after he was fired from his part-time college job at a local post office
(The London Daily Telegraph)
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"I guess I'll be at the BECK AND CALL of people with money all my life, but thank God I won't ever again have to be at the beck and call of every idiot who's got two cents to buy a stamp."
- American writer William Faulkner after he was fired from his part-time college job at a local post office
Did you
know?
at someone's beck and call
idiom
- always willing and able to do whatever someone asks
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Beck is a middle English word that refers to a nod or a motion of the hand or finger to indicate consent or acceptance. It was originally a verb and is a shortened form of "beckoning." Call is used in its normal meaning in this expression.
Beck and call is often confused with "beckon call," which is merely a mishearing of beck and call. This misspelling first appears in the early 20th century as this example from a 1929 newspaper article shows:
"Down through the history of American wars, from the Revolutionary to the recent World conflict," the speaker declared, "America always has had at its beckon call men who would give their all for their country that people might enjoy peace and freedom."
Mishearings can eventually lead to misspellings, which happens frequently with song lyrics and sometimes with hilarious results:
"Killed in a bar when he was only three," from the line in the song about Davey Crockett that goes, "Killed him a bear when he was only three."
"'Excuse me while I kiss this guy," from a line in Jimi Hendrix's song "Purple Haze" that goes, "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky."
"The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind," from Bob Dylan's lyrics "the answer my friend is blowing in the wind."
And finally, some people have interpreted the first line of the Canadian national anthem, "Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee," as "Oh Canada, we stand on cars and freeze."
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"She is a popular manager because she doesn't expect her team members to be constantly at her beck and call."
idiom
- always willing and able to do whatever someone asks
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Beck is a middle English word that refers to a nod or a motion of the hand or finger to indicate consent or acceptance. It was originally a verb and is a shortened form of "beckoning." Call is used in its normal meaning in this expression.
Beck and call is often confused with "beckon call," which is merely a mishearing of beck and call. This misspelling first appears in the early 20th century as this example from a 1929 newspaper article shows:
"Down through the history of American wars, from the Revolutionary to the recent World conflict," the speaker declared, "America always has had at its beckon call men who would give their all for their country that people might enjoy peace and freedom."
Mishearings can eventually lead to misspellings, which happens frequently with song lyrics and sometimes with hilarious results:
"Killed in a bar when he was only three," from the line in the song about Davey Crockett that goes, "Killed him a bear when he was only three."
"'Excuse me while I kiss this guy," from a line in Jimi Hendrix's song "Purple Haze" that goes, "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky."
"The ants are my friends, they're blowing in the wind," from Bob Dylan's lyrics "the answer my friend is blowing in the wind."
And finally, some people have interpreted the first line of the Canadian national anthem, "Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee," as "Oh Canada, we stand on cars and freeze."
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"She is a popular manager because she doesn't expect her team members to be constantly at her beck and call."
