Do you say Goodbye on the 'phone?

[W-D Forties]

Perhaps some of our American cousins can answer a question that has plagued me for years; when you are talking to someone on the phone and the converation is over, do you say goodbye?
In almost every American film or TV programme I have seen, the characters just hang up without saying goodbye - it just seems so rude! How do you know the conversation is over?

Is it because I am British? To do so over here would seem strange, and quite rude. Is this just something that happens on TV and in the movies, or is it the norm to hang up without saying goodbye? I would appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Nick D]

Yes, one says goodbye, or bye, which I would say is the norm. (I am one of your American cousins, despite my location. No relation to the Lincolns, though.)

 

[W-D Forties]

So is the hanging up thing only for the benefit of TV and movies, to allow the character to look stricken then hang up the phone with a dramatic clatter?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I always say "Goodbye," and I also always say "Hello," unless I'm at work, in which case I answer with the name of the business. Item number 43869 on my list of Pet Peeves is people who just start in talking as soon as you pick up the phone without greeting you or identifying themselves. I suppose this is a by product of the cell-phone/caller ID era, but that's no excuse.

It's also not just young people who do it. My mother is notorious for not wasting her time with telephone pleasantries, and half the time when she calls me she's well into a description of her latest bladder problem before I realize who it is yelling into my ear.

 

[Nik Taylor]

According to Roger Ebert, "Good manners slow the flow. Ever notice how movie characters always stop talking on the phone without saying goodbye? Also, when a couple is making a date and agree on "Tuesday night," how often do they say when and where?"

This makes sense, I have been know to call back the person I was just speaking with after we hang up and say goodbye because to do so in the conversation we were just having to say "goodbye" would have been to upset the tempo of the discussion.

 

[Adcurium]

I think it is jut in the movies. In real life the person still holding the phone to their ear would be saying 'Son of a B just hung up on me!'

 

[Cobden]

'Phone calls in TV and film are largely there to provide exposition; hence the lack of pleasantries and the tendency for characters to repeat exactly what the bloke on the other end just said (unless they use a split screen 'phone call)

 

[dhermann1]

There are often five to ten minutes (or even more) of goodbyeing, trailing off into an Alphonse and Gaston routine, of each person trying to get in the last "Bye, now". Sometimes pretty comical.
But yeah, of course we say goodbye.

 

[Paisley]

Yes, I always say goodbye. Everyone I know does.

 

[Puzzicato]

Even when I am hanging up on someone I say goodbye! A typical conversation with a telemarketer would go "No thank you, we are really not interested", "But what about..." "No thanks, I am hanging up now, Goodbye!"

 

[ScionPI2005]

I always say "goodbye" or "bye". Even if I know who is calling, I always answer "hello" too.

 

[scottyrocks]

Yes I always say hello and goodbye, or some variation thereof.

What I have noticed, though, is that the tendency to do or not do this is age related. Kids seem to just start talking and then just hang up when they are done. Incredibly rude. My parents, however, have to say hello and goodbye multiple times. In general, I find that most people my age and older always say hello and goodbye, at least once.

 

[Puzzicato]

Yes I always say hello and goodbye, or some variation thereof.

What I have noticed, though, is that the tendency to do or not do this is age related. Kids seem to just start talking and then just hang up when they are done. Incredibly rude. My parents, however, have to say hello and goodbye multiple times. In general, I find that most people my age and older always say hello and goodbye, at least once.

I remember once being at my friend's house & hearing her brother on the phone. I would have been about 11, Ben was 18. His side went "Matt? Ben. Beach? 10? Yeah". Amazing economy with language.

 

[Tango Yankee]

I tend to confuse people by saying "Cheers!" at the end of the conversation instead of "Bye" or "Good-bye." Then I have to say "Bye" anyway so they get that I'm about to hang up. :eusa_doh:

Bye!
Tom

 

[Silver Dollar]

The habit to say hello and bye is so ingrained in me that I almost have no choice. Even if I know who's calling, I give some kind of greeting and parting word.

 

[CharlieB]

I always say "Goodbye," and I also always say "Hello," unless I'm at work, in which case I answer with the name of the business. Item number 43869 on my list of Pet Peeves is people who just start in talking as soon as you pick up the phone without greeting you or identifying themselves. I suppose this is a by product of the cell-phone/caller ID era, but that's no excuse.

It's also not just young people who do it. My mother is notorious for not wasting her time with telephone pleasantries, and half the time when she calls me she's well into a description of her latest bladder problem before I realize who it is yelling into my ear.

Absolutely, Lizzie. When my daughter was a teenager, and one of her friends called and did not identify themselves, I always made a point to ask. Such an annoying habit, especially since 1. I did not recognize all their voices (if in fact I had ever met them), and 2. some times people would call whom my daughter did not want to speak with.

In summary (I know, "too late") some form of greeting including your name, and a pleasant goodbye at the end!

 

[Pompidou]

I always begin with, "Hey, how's it going?" and I always close with, "Alrighty, see you later... Have a good one... Bye." Takes forever to actually be able to hang up - a contest of who's going to get the last word.

 

[Yeps]

I tend to say hi and bye in all manner of languages. Not sure why, but I just do.

 

[zombi]

Absolutely. I always answer with some variant of hello and then end with some variant of goodbye.

Of course at work I have to answer with the name of the unit, my name, and ask how I can help them, as opposed to hello.

 

[Big_e]

I always say bye or later, unless you and I are gangsters. In that case I would just say, "Come by yourself with the money. Any sign of coppers or flatfoots and the deal's off.". *click*