Put down vs hang up

I think both expressions refer to the hand-held receiver. Put the phone down is to lay it on a horizontal surface (while you go answer the doorbell); hang up is to put it in its cradle and disconnect.

Those who have mobile phones might have different terminology.

Hi Philip,

Thank you for your reply.

So, they do have different meanings! Only 'hang up' is to end a phone call by putting back the phone, right?

Best,

TS

Thinking SpainIs there any difference between 'put down' and 'hang up' the phone?

If I'm talking on the phone while cooking pasta and the pasta is almost finished, I'll tell my friend on the phone, "I may have to put down the phone in a minute and drain some pasta." Then, when it's time, I say, "Just hang on a minute and I'll get right back to you." I don't

Hi Jim,

Thank you for your reply. It's really clear with your example. Only 'hang up'is to end a phone call by putting back the phone. There is no way you can say, 'I'm back'.

Thinking SpainDo you say 'up' because phones were on the wall long time ago???

That is certainly an intriguing possibility, but I don't really know the origin of the expression.

CJ

Hi Jim,

Too bad. I though I had discover something for once! Anyway I'll keep trying.

Take care

TS

Also, "put down the phone" has very hostile implications. If you say to someone "put down the phone," that's really ominous. because you don't care if he hangs up or not, you just want him to put the phone down immediately. The word "put down" also means to kill an animal. This is not a pleasant term and you would rarely use it in everyday conversation, in any context. And if you did use it, y

AnonymousAlso, "put down the phone" has very hostile implications.

That seems rather imaginative to me.

CJ

Here are a couple of antique telephones (1878, 1919). The device that the earpiece hung on was call the "hook". When you finished the call, you hung the earpiece up on the hook.

I think that the telephone vocabulary originated in the design of these old phones.

Hi AlpheccaStars,

Thank you so much for you explanations and pictures. So maybe 'up' in the phrasal verb 'hung up' is because they were on the walls when they were invented.

Best,

TS