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Colouring Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Phone call+hold on

If I'm on a phone call (not business call) and need to leave for a moment, is it polite to just say "hold on" ? Should I say "please hold on? "

Thanks a lot in advance.
  

Top answer

I think it's better to ask if the person can hold on for a minute (you might even offer a reason, without going into detail). As for "call waiting", I have strong feelings. If the person who called has a call waiting "beep", they should ignore the new call.

— Philip

  • I think it's better to ask if the person can hold on for a minute (you might even offer a reason, without going into detail).
  • As for "call waiting", I have strong feelings.
  • If the person who called has a call waiting "beep", they should ignore the new call.
  • better yet to ignore it, as far as I'm concerned.
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6 Answers
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I think it's better to ask if the person can hold on for a minute (you might even offer a reason, without going into detail). As for "call waiting", I have strong feelings. If the person who called has a call waiting "beep", they should ignore the new call. If the person who was called has a call waiting beep, he might ask if the other person could hang on for a second....better yet to ignore
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Thanks a lot for the reply.

So if i'm in the middle of the call and need to grab something, then I can just say " can you/could you please hang on" or "can you/could you please hold on " ? Which is the more natural expression ?
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I'd say: Could you please stay on the line for a secound? or Could you please hold for a secound?
If the person you are talking to is a friend you can also say: Hold on or Hang on.
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