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At the end of the talk, people press cancel button to cut the call. What is that act called?

If it were a land line phone, we could have said: She has put the phone down (?)

Scene:

My child was talking to her aunt on the mobile. Aunt pressed the cancel button to cut the call. Child didn't know this and continued talking.

What should I tell the child now about the aunt pressing the cancel button to cut the call?

This is mobile phone not the landline.

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    'Drop the call' may also be an option. – shin Dec 14 '15 at 6:57
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    @shin - I usually hear "dropped call" referring to an interruption in service, not an intentional ending of the phone call. – J.R.♦ Dec 14 '15 at 8:17
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Another possible alternative (of She hung up the phone) is:

(Honey,) she has ended the call.

A real example around the web: She thinks she has ended the call at this point and then says to her colleague: ... (Mirror Online)

Most of our phones, smart or not, usually have a button with an icon of a phone handset, often in red, sometimes on red. This is commonly known as the "End Call" button. It's the button that we press to "end" the call.

Here is an example of such a button :-)

The End Button

Image source: How to make a FaceTime call from your iPhone | iMore

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28

There's the expression hang up the phone. But there may be others, more fitting for modern phones.

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    I think a lot of phone terminology will linger, even as the technology evolves. We still talk about "dialing" a number, for example. We may be stuck wtih "hang up" for a long time. – J.R.♦ Dec 14 '15 at 8:21
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    @J.R. so can I say: "Aunt has hung up the phone"? – CoffeeDay Dec 14 '15 at 8:24
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    Sure, if you in are the habit of calling her "Aunt." (I don't usually use Aunt in the same way that I might use Grandma. I'd be inclined to say either "My aunt hung up the phone," or "Aunt Lucy hung up the phone.") – J.R.♦ Dec 14 '15 at 8:27
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    I agree with @J.R., Aunt is generally not used that way by most people. Probably stemming from the fact that many people have more than one Aunt, so it's not very specific. It's used more like a title than a name substitute. – Joseph Rogers Dec 14 '15 at 11:43
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    The funny thing about "dial" is that it derives from the same root as "day" - and was associated with rotary indicators on control panels and rotary phones because it was similar to a sundial, but it persisted even after touch-tone became ubiquitous. – LawrenceC Dec 14 '15 at 21:12
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Hang up and put down are hold overs from a time when phones were two piece devices.

Given the advent of one-piece hand-held smartphones and touch technology, pressing the end call button is what people usually do these days to disconnect or end a call. The popular end call button has been stylised to have an outline of a two-piece phone's handset and is usually coloured red.

Hang up in slang has another meaning, whereas end call is unambiguous.

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  • Ah, I didn't see your answer until this page is refreshed after I posted mine! I'll keep mine 'cause I think the picture helps. – Damkerng T. Dec 14 '15 at 11:38
  • Pictures worth 1,000 words mate! – Peter Dec 14 '15 at 11:56
  • What's the slang meaning of "hang up"? – Anthony Grist Dec 15 '15 at 13:42
  • Hang up can mean: disconnect a call, a psychological barrier, placing an object on a wall amongst others. – Peter Dec 15 '15 at 19:45
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hang up for people who remember landlines, disconnect for people raised in the internet-era.

Eg. in many conference-calling systems I've encountered phrase "The leader has disconnected." even though everyone were using regular phone connections and "hung up" would also make sense.

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    One could easily argue that disconnecting is a relic word from a by-gone era, too. – J.R.♦ Dec 14 '15 at 23:58
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    @J.R. The internet is connection-oriented, so with modern Skype the connect-disconnect pair returned. – Agent_L Dec 15 '15 at 9:15
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The phrasal verb ring off also stands for finishing a phone conversation. For instance, —aunt rang off the call when the kid was still talking.—

The other one used is hang up on. This one needs a subject.

The kid was talking to her aunt but she hung up on him.

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    Ring off sounds British to me. Americans might not understand it. – Kevin Dec 15 '15 at 5:19

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