phone in

See also: phone-in

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

phone in (third-person singular simple present phones in, present participle phoning in, simple past and past participle phoned in)

1. (transitive) To deliver a message by telephone when etiquette demands the effort and respect conveyed by communication in person.
2. (transitive) To make a telephone call to a broadcasting station, especially to participate in a program being aired.
3. (transitive, intransitive) As phone it in (idiomatic) To fulfill a responsibility with a minimum effort rather than the appropriate level of effort.
   • 1998 January 12, “It's All About Timing”, in TIME:

     But here was someone who could have been paid regally for just phoning it in for another year or two willing instead to throw that all away

   • 2000 April 26, Candy Sagon, “All Talk, No Cooking”, in Washington Post:

     his new show with Julia Child -- "Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home" on WMPT Channel 22 -- is a clever marketing stroke, but at times both of these veteran teachers seem to be phoning it in.

   • 2008 October 6, “Getting Offensive; How Will Voters Respond?”, in ABC GMA:

     And I think our campaign put a lot more on the line, frankly, to try to solve that problem than Senator Obama, who tried to phone it in.

4. (transitive) To make an unseemly, timid performance; to be restrained and timid when bold action is called for.

Derived terms

• phone-in (adj)
• phone-in (noun)

 

Translations

deliver a message by telephone

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: soittaa (jollekin)
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can

to call a broadcasting station

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: soittaa ohjelmaan
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: ringa in (sv)
• Thai: โฟนอิน (th) (foon-in)

to fulfill a responsibility with a minimum effort

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: tehdä (jotakin) vasemmalla kädellä, tehdä (jotakin) rimaa hipoen
• French: faire le service minimum
• Portuguese: colocar pouco esforço em algo m

to make a timid performance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: arastella (fi)
• Portuguese: please add this translation if you can