Telephone English

BUSINESS  ENGLISH  VOCABULARY

Telephone

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Useful telephone vocabulary and phrases in English.

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Making contact :	Hello / Good morning / Good afternoon ... This is John Brown speaking Could I speak to ......... please? I'd like to speak to ..... ..... I'm trying to contact ..........
Giving more information:	I'm calling from Tokyo / Paris / New York / Sydney ... I'm calling on behalf of Mr. X ...
Taking a call :	X speaking. Can I help you?
Asking for a name / information :	Who's calling please? Who's speaking? Where are you calling from? Are you sure you have the right number / name?
Asking the caller to wait :	Hold the line please. Could you hold on please? Just a moment please.
Connecting :	Thank you for holding. The line's free now ... I'll put you through. I'll connect you now  / I'm connecting you now.
Giving negative information :	I'm afraid the line's engaged. Could you call back later? I'm afraid he's in a meeting at the moment. I'm sorry. He's out of the office today. / He isn't in at the moment. I'm afraid we don't have a Mr./Mrs./Ms/Miss. ... here I'm sorry.  There's nobody here by that name. Sorry.  I think you've dialled the wrong number./ I'm afraid you've got the wrong number.
Telephone problems :	The line is very bad ...  Could you speak up please? Could you repeat that please? I'm afraid I can't hear you. Sorry. I didn't catch that.  Could you say it again please?
Leaving /Taking a message :	Can I leave / take a message? Would you like to leave a message? Could you give him/her a message? Could you ask him/her to call me back? Could you tell him/her that I called? Could you give me your name please? Could you spell that please? What's your number please?

3 Beach Idioms

Summer is arriving! It's time to hit (=go to) the beach! Do you recognise these three beach idioms?

Beach bum/bunny

A young man who is always on the beach is a beach bum. A beach bunny is often used for females.

He's turned into a real beach bum since he moved to California.

Life's a beach

When you are very happy because your life is going well, life's a beach. It has the opposite meaning of the more well-known idiom, life's a bitch which expresses the idea that things are difficult or going badly.

He got engaged and got promoted - life's a beach for him at the moment.

To not be the only pebble on the beach

We use not the only pebble on the beach to state someone is not the most important person in the group. It's often used when someone is sad because a relationship has ended. Plenty of other fish in the sea is also used.

I know you are sad because you miss her, but remember, she's not the only pebble on the beach.

Laura always expects to get her own way. It's time she learned that she's not the only pebble on the beach.