You can bank ON it | Speaking in Tongues - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:33:05 +0000

I was looking up reciprocity between US & Australian banks for a thread on the US branch. The Australian bank said you can set ATM withdrawal limits "through Telephone Banking on 132 032."

I would have written "through Telephone Banking at 132 032." (Or, more probably, "by calling Telephone Banking at 132 032.") The only US usage I know of dates to the old multiline business phone systems where a receptionist would call you on the intercom line & say "Mr. Smith is on 032."

I looked through the bank's web site & they were rather consistent in the use of "on," so it can't be a typo. For instance: Please contact Customer Enquiries on 132 032 for full details.

So, is this a common way of referring someone to a phone number?

Nutrax
The plural of anecdote is not data.

1

ONLINE

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:01:38 +0000

As a Brit, I would say call/reach someone 'on' a number, rather than 'at'.

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2

ONLINE

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:41:57 +0000

I guess we Americans are the odd ones here. Like nutrax, I only hear "on" used internally. While at a physician's office, I might hear him paged by the receptionist or a nurse: "Dr. Smith, pharmacy on line 2."

Otherwise it's always "You can reach him at..." or "Call me at...."

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3

ONLINE

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:10:39 +0000

I've heard "on" here in the US more frequently in the last few years. I think Diane Rehm on NPR says you can call in "on 1-800 433-8850". I did a search of some recent federal regulations and I see 5 saying you can reach the author "on" a certain number and 434 saying "at".

(I also heard Diane Rehm say adVERtizment a couple of weeks ago. Something is getting to her.)

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4

ONLINE

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:35:54 +0000

Yes, 'on' sounds normal to me, implying 'we are on the end of this line' I guess, but 'at' would also be OK, referring more to a particular place of business. (With a bank, who knows where you are calling).

Correction: I just listened to a bunch of Australian TV commercials and they all said "call us on ...." So 'at' is not very common here.

Edited by: libbyh

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5

ONLINE

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:03:08 +0000

In Australia we use 'on'. 'At' sounds very strange to me.

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6

ONLINE

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:21:03 +0000

In Australia, with regards to telephone calls, we only use 'at' to indicate a time or a fee.

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7

ONLINE

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 17:43:25 +0000

As a Brit, I'd always say 'on'.

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8

ONLINE

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:03:58 +0000

Maybe it's because in the US, we equate a phone number with an address--both are fixed. I live at 123 Main street and you can call me at 123-4567.

I did find a few discussions of the issue. The common consensus seems to be, as the Fount of All Knowledge puts it "In BrE, one calls (or rings) someone on+ his or her telephone number; in AmE, one calls someone +at his or her telephone number."

I found English learners who wanted to know if "call me to this number" and "call me by this number" were correct.

Nutrax
The plural of anecdote is not data.

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9

ONLINE

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:45:27 +0000

nutrax, what would you say about email addresses? Thinking about your first sentence in #8, I realised that my out of office reply at work says to reach my colleague 'on' nameofcolleague@nameofmycompany.co.uk but I think 'at' might be more correct.

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