wake-up call

See also: wakeup call

English

Alternative forms

• wakeup call, wake up call

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

wake-up call (plural wake-up calls)

1. A telephone call to awaken someone at a certain time, especially one requested by the person while staying at a hotel.

   She requested a five a.m. wake-up call from the front desk.

2. (figuratively) An alert, reminder, or call to action caused by a dramatic event.

   The recent deaths should serve as a wake-up call to others at risk.

   • 1997 December 6, William Jefferson Clinton, Presidential Radio Address:

     Youth violence represents an insistent, angry wake-up call to every parent, every teacher, every religious leader, every student.

   • 2020 November 18, Mike Brown tells Paul Stephen, “I wasn't going to let the Mayor down”, in Rail, page 44:

     "I will never forget the seven people who lost their lives and those who were injured, which was a real wake-up call to those of us involved in public transport and operating tram networks around the world. […] ."

   • 2021, William Ian Miller, “The Law of Conservation of Good Things”, in Outrageous Fortune: Gloomy Reflections on Luck and Life, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 34:

     Instead, we must find an unworthy substitute for the defeat of a foe in that small grin we quickly suppress when we learn that a beheadphoned texter got hit by a car—no, not seriously injured, just bruised up enough to give him a wake-up call.

Translations

morning courtesy call

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 叫醒電話／叫醒电话 (jiàoxǐng diànhuà), 叫醒服務／叫醒服务 (jiàoxǐng fúwù)

• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: herätyssoitto
• French: réveil par téléphone m, réveil téléphonique m
• German: Weckruf (de) m
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: モーニングコール (mōningu-kōru)
• Malay: panggilan kejut
• Polish: pobudka (pl) f
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: llamada de despertador
• Swedish: telefonväckning c

figuratively: alert, reminder, call to action

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 當頭棒喝／当头棒喝 (zh) (dāngtóubànghè)

• Dutch: wake-up call
• Finnish: herätys (fi)
• French: signal d’alarme (fr) m, coup de semonce (fr) m, avertissement (fr) m, piqûre de rappel (fr) f
• German: Warnung (de) f, Alarmzeichen n, Alarmsignal (de) n
• Italian: campanello d'allarme m
• Malay: panggilan kejut
• Maori: karanga-oho
• Polish: pobudka (pl) f
• Russian: сигнал тревоги (signal trevogi)
• Spanish: alerta (es) f, aldabonazo (es), toque de atención, revulsivo (es), verle las orejas al lobo (used as verb phrase)
• Swedish: väckarklocka (sv) c

See also

• heads-up
• reality check
• rude awakening
• wake word

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English wake-up call.

Noun

wake-up call m (plural wake-up calls)

1. an alert, reminder, or call to action caused by a dramatic event
   • 2007, Gerhardus Hermanus Maria Evers, De toekomst van de arbeidsrelatie, Uitgeverij Van Gorcum, →ISBN, page 3:

     Dit essay gaat over wederkerig risicomanagement en de vormgeving van de arbeidsrelatie in Nederland in de komende jaren. (..) Dit essay is vooral bedoeld als wake-up call.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2012, Nick Hornby, Bidden: aantekeningen bij het voetbalseizoen 2011/2012, Bruna Uitgevers B.V., →ISBN, page 12:

     Maar als supporter van Arsenal, de Spurs, of Liverpool, terwijl je je al half begon af te vragen of je team een kans maakte kampioen te worden, met de wind in de zeilen en weinig blessures, dan was dit een wake-up call.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2013, Maud Oortwijn, Dag Licht, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 9:

     Iedere dag zit ze tot diep in de nacht werk na te kijken, met haar auto eenzaam alleen op de parkeerplaats. Dit Wegenwacht moment is een wake-up call. Ze verwaarloost haar eigen leven, in dit geval de condities van de auto.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)