In stationary telephones, the handset (top) would, when not in use, be placed in a specific place, weighing down a switch; the act of physically picking it up opened communications, and putting it back in place would terminate the call.
pick up the phone (third-person singular simple present picks up the phone , present participle picking up the phone , simple past and past participle picked up the phone )
To pick up the receiver of a telephone , generally with the intention of making a phone call.
To answer an incoming telephone call.
to pick up the receiver of a telephone to answer a call
Arabic: رَفَعَ السَّمَّاعَة ( rafaʕa as-sammāʕa )
Chinese:
Cantonese: 接 電話 / 接 电话 ( zip3 din6 waa6-2 ) , 聽 電話 / 听 电话 ( teng1 din6 waa6-2 )
Mandarin: 拿起 電話 / 拿起 电话 ( náqǐ diànhuà ) , 接 電話 / 接 电话 ( jiē diànhuà )
Finnish: vastata puhelimeen
French: décrocher (fr)
German: den Hörer abnehmen , abheben (de) , abnehmen (de)
Japanese: 電話 に 出る ( でんわにでる, denwa ni deru ) , 受話器 を 取る ( じゅわきをとる, juwaki o toru )
Korean: 전화 를 받다 ( jeonhwa-reul batda ) , 전화 를 들다 ( jeonhwa-reul deulda )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ta telefonen
Polish: odbierać telefon (pl) impf , odebrać telefon pf
Portuguese: atender (o telefone )
Russian: брать тру́бку impf ( bratʹ trúbku ) , взять тру́бку pf ( vzjatʹ trúbku )
Spanish: contestar el teléfono
Swedish: svara i telefonen