Telephone tag Meaning in English
expression
ˈtɛɫəˌfoʊn/ /ˈtæɡ
TEL-uh-fohn tag
tˈɛlɪfˌəʊn/ /tˈæɡ
TEL-ih-fohn tag
التعريف
A situation where two people try to call each other by phone but keep missing each other's calls and have to keep trying.
الاستخدام والفروق الدقيقة
Informal, mostly used in North American English. Refers to repeated back-and-forth of missed calls, not literal tag game. Commonly said as 'playing telephone tag.' Can be used for calls at work or personally.
Spanish: cruce de llamadas - llamadas perdidas entre dos personasPortuguese (BR): telefone sem resposta - jogo de ligaçõesPortuguese (PT): telefone sem resposta - jogo do telefoneChinese (Simplified): 电话接龙（两人互相错过来电）Chinese (Traditional): 電話接龍（兩人互相錯過來電）Hindi: फ़ोन टैग - मिस्ड कॉल का सिलसिलाArabic: مطاردة هاتفية - تبادل مكالمات غير متجاوبةBengali: টেলিফোন ট্যাগ - ফোন ধরাছোঁয়ার খেলাRussian: телефонная догонялка - вечная игра в звонкиJapanese: 電話の行き違い - 電話のすれ違いVietnamese: trò đuổi bắt qua điện thoại - gọi mà không gặp nhauKorean: 전화 태그 - 계속 엇갈리는 전화Turkish: telefon yakalamaca - karşılıklı cevaplanmayan aramalarUrdu: ٹیلی فون ٹیگ - بار بار کال ملاناIndonesian: telepon tarik-ulur - saling tidak terhubung lewat telepon
جمل نموذجية
We played telephone tag all day and never spoke.
basic
I keep missing her calls—it's like telephone tag.
basic
Are we going to play telephone tag again?
basic
Sorry for the telephone tag—let's set a time to talk.
natural
We’ve been stuck in telephone tag for days—it’s getting frustrating!
natural
Let's end this telephone tag—can you just text me when you're free?
natural