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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

phone tag en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

phone + tag (children's game)

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic, uncountable) A situation in which two individuals attempting to contact each other by telephone repeatedly do not get a live person and instead trade messages, such as by voice mail.
    • "What frequently results is a game of phone tag. One party tries to reach another, is unable to, and leaves voice-mail indicating an interest in finding a time to meet. The other party returns the call, more often than not fails to reach the original caller, and leaves voice-mail in response." 2000, Sharon MacDonald, Gilbert Cockton, People and Computers XIV - Usability Or Else!: Proceedings of HCI 2000:
    • "To reduce the time you spend playing phone tag, ask what time the client will be in and call back then." 2006, Steven Fishman, Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & Consultants:
    • "Avoid phone tag, which results when two parties go back and forth trying to reach each other by phone." 2005, Dorothy A. Maxwell, Phone Skills for the Information Age:

Synonyms

telephone tag