Timeline for If we can “give someone a call”, why can't we “give a phone call”?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 31, 2023 at 1:00 | vote | accept | Mari-Lou A | ||
| Oct 30, 2023 at 16:14 | comment | added | Lambie | "When we give a call to someone" is generally expressed as give someone a call. Give a customer a call. Frankly, I think asking why we don't say "make someone a call" is just a waste of time. Like the answer below says make a phone call and give someone a call. Two different idioms. | |
| Oct 30, 2023 at 14:03 | comment | added | Billy Kerr | "To give someone a bell" is indeed used in the UK. It think Aussies use it too. As to the explanation of why we say it one way and not another, I suppose it's because these are idioms (not literal), and many idioms are fixed expressions, and you can't really mess with them, and if you do, they sound odd. | |
| Oct 30, 2023 at 13:32 | history | edited | Mari-Lou A | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
minor tweaks
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| Oct 29, 2023 at 20:21 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | I think your approach is at least part of the "explanation" (to the extent that idiomatic usages can be "explained" at all :) Making anything (a call, a fuss, an excuse, amends,...) only requires specifying the thing[s] made. But giving someone a call requires specifying both direct (the call) and indirect (the recipient) objects. Hence Please excuse me - I have to make some calls is fine, but it wouldn't work with ...I have to give some calls. And Please excuse me - I have to give some people some calls is just a contrivance too far! :) | |
| Oct 29, 2023 at 19:59 | answer | added | Astralbee | timeline score: 3 | |
| Oct 29, 2023 at 19:54 | comment | added | Mari-Lou A | @FumbleFingers you might be onto something there, it suspiciously looks like an answer to me. I have tried to explain it to an Italian private student that to give a phonecall means someone has to receive it whereas making a phonecall emphasises the action. Can't say I really convinced myself. | |
| Oct 29, 2023 at 19:48 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Before telephones even existed, you could give him a shout (to get his attention, after which you might tell him something). But the process of telephoning someone (especially in the early years) probably seemed so much more involved and technical that you had to make it happen (set it up, whatever). And once an idiomatic usage gets established, it can endure long after the original "reason" is irrelevant and/or long forgotten. | |
| Oct 29, 2023 at 19:30 | history | asked | Mari-Lou A | CC BY-SA 4.0 |