Englishgive someone a ring
Meaning: To call someone on the telephone.
Example: “Give me a ring when your train gets in.”
Equivalents in other languages
French: Un coup de fil Literally: A blow of wire
Origin: Comes from the mechanical bell inside early telephones. Reaching someone meant first ringing the exchange, where a human operator answered and connected the call, after which the bell at the far end rang audibly until somebody picked up — a real ring, produced by a clapper striking metal. British English produced "ring someone up" for this in the late 1800s, and "give someone a ring" followed as the noun form. The phrase has comfortably outlived the hardware: a modern phone vibrates or plays a chosen sound and contains no bell at all, so the expression survives purely as a fossil of the equipment that once made it literal — which is also why it can still be misheard as an offer of jewelry.
More English idioms
- give someone a song and dance To give someone an overly dramatic or unbelievable excuse.
- go around in circles To be confused or lost; to make no progress.
- go bananas To go crazy; to no longer be able to cope with a situation. To drive someone bananas mean…
- go for broke To risk everything.
- go haywire To malfunction; to break down.
- go off half-cocked To do or say something in haste or without adequate planning or preparation.
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