"i'll call you back" or "i'll call you later" are common lingos for dating these days. what does it mean? literally, it means that you'll get a call back from someone within a reasonable time. sometimes, you have those lucky ones (insert sarcasm here) who don't have any social manners or were raised by wolves and calling back or calling you later means a day or two late, finding a message on facebook and a DM on twitter.
if you're anything like me, i take things like a grain of salt most of the time. when someone tells me "i'll call you back" or "i'll call you later", i usually have some kind of time frame in mind. if the person i'm talking to had to cut off our conversation and said "i'll call you back", that to me means anywhere between 5 and 15 minutes. after that, i wander off and find things to do. i'm not the sit-arounder to wait for a phone call. if you also come to visit my place, you'll find my phone on various places - the table, the couch, or somewhere not near me AND on vibrate! so when people eventually call back, most of the time, i miss the damn phone call and they think i'm ignoring them or something. the funny thing is that people realize that i don't have my phone by me all the time. it's the same thing at work. i rarely take personal calls at work, i mostly e-mail or text. you'd have to be extra special for me to talk to you during my work day. i'm not a phone person to begin with - there's only a select few who i can talk to the phone for hours.
the problem with the phrase "i'll call you back" or "i'll call you later" is how each person takes this phrase. of course, if "ill call you later" means three days for other people, for me that means hit the delete button, especially if we don't know each other that long. i know friends who have gotten so bent out of shape not hearing from someone and literally breaks down the meaning of "i'll call you back" or "i'll call you later." i say, if the phone rings, answer. if it doesn't, keep calm and keep it moving.
what's your take on this?
Totally agree with you. Most of the time I refrain from using these sayings because they're so open ended. If I have to hang up suddenly then I'll say something like "I'll call you back in a few minutes" or if I'm simply done with the conversation I'll say "I'll call you tomorrow or in a few days."
ReplyDeleteI use those words too but later to me means any time after the moment. If I say I'll call you later today, that's different. I think ppl get way bent out of shape. Life happens and ppl can't always get right back to you. Those who freak because of it, I say get over it. (not you personally just saying :-)
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