calling card
Appearance
See also: calling-card
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]calling card (plural calling cards)
- A small printed card which identifies the bearer, traditionally presented for introduction when making a social visit to a home or when attending a formal social event or business meeting.
- Synonyms: at-home card, business card, name card, meishi, visiting card
- 1905, Alice Hegan Rice, chapter 7, in Sandy, page 80:
- If Mrs. Nelson does come here, you be sure to put on your white apron before you open the door; and for pity sake don't forget the card-tray! You ought to know better than to stick out your hand for a lady's calling-card.
- (figurative) An attribute, symptom, object, or behavior which is distinctly characteristic of someone or something.
- 2006 May 14, Anne Midgette, “Summer Stages: Mozart, Yes, But Also Much More”, in New York Times[2], retrieved 26 September 2008:
- Free and slightly funky chamber music is the calling card of this festival.
- 2020 September 2, “Aleksei Navalny Was Poisoned With Novichok, Germany Says”, in New York Times[3]:
- The poisoning also turned Novichok into something of a Russian calling card.
- 2020 October 3, Sanam Yar, “Lili Reinhart Is Just Being Honest”, in New York Times[4]:
- She didn’t set out to make candor her calling card.
- (euphemistic) Excrement, especially of a domestic animal.
- 2005 January 21, Dwight Perry, “Sideline Chatter: Just doo it”, in Seattle Times[5], archived from the original on 4 January 2013:
- A guide dog left his calling card on the court at Tuesday night's Magic-Pistons game in Orlando.
- A phonecard.
- Synonym: telephone card
- 2003 November 22, Michelle Singletary, “Traveler beware: Free things may cost you money”, in seattlepi.com[6], retrieved 26 September 2008:
- Many experts now advise consumers to use a prepaid calling card to save money on long distance calls while staying in a hotel.
- A card advertising the services of a prostitute.
- Synonym: tart card
- (World War I– World War II military slang) An explosive dropped from a bomber aeroplane.[1]
Translations
[edit]printed card identifying the bearer — see business card
characteristic
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euphemistic: excrement
phonecard
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References
[edit]- ^ Lighter, Jonathan (1972) “The Slang of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, 1917-1919: An Historical Glossary”, in American Speech[1], volume 47, number 1/2, page 28