Telephone Hook Article Index for
Telephone
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Telephone
 

Information About

Telephone Hook





EXAMPLE USAGE

''I tried calling you all day, but your phone must have been off the hook, because all I got was a busy signal.''


ADDITIONAL USAGE

A phone receiving many calls in rapid succession can be said to be "ringing off the hook". (Often cartoons will show a telephone handset litterally bouncing above the ringing base unit.) This most likely led to the present use of "off the hook" as a synonym for "crazy" or "exciting".

"Off the hook", meaning "freed from responsibility or culpability" is not related to the telephone, but most likely derives from the image of a worm dislodging itself from a fishing hook.


SEE ALSO

Off The Hook : a radio show about hacking and telephone systems, among other topics