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#2 (permalink) Mon Jan 01, 2007 21:29 pm Calling collect |
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Hi Tom,
It's the kind of thing your children do to you but you are told where the call is coming from and who is calling. In the UK this is called a 'reverse charges call'.
A _________________ English as a Second Language You can read my ESL story Word Story: Jokes |
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Alan Co-founder

Joined: 27 Sep 2003 Posts: 8417 Location: UK
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#3 (permalink) Mon Jan 01, 2007 22:04 pm Calling collect |
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Hi Tom
Yes, you can "call someone collect" in the US and I agree with Alan that it's most likely to be a situation in which kids are calling their parents. The person called does not have to accept the call, but parents generally accept that sort of call... whether they want to or not. 
Amy |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8265 Location: USA
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#4 (permalink) Mon Jan 01, 2007 22:04 pm Calling collect |
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| We can do that in Spain, too, and it's called 'llamadas a cobro revertido'. It's not something we normally do, however, unless really, really pressed for money, and then only with close friends or relatives, I suppose. |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#5 (permalink) Wed Jan 03, 2007 23:51 pm Calling collect |
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cobro -- not cuesta?
or carga? _________________ Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2482 Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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#6 (permalink) Thu Jan 04, 2007 0:13 am Calling collect |
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| prezbucky wrote: | cobro -- not cuesta?
or carga? |
Yes, 'cobro' = payment.
Cuesta = it costs (from the verb 'costar'): eso cuesta un ojo de la cara -- it costs an arm and a leg (literally: it costs an eye from the face!).
Carga = load |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#7 (permalink) Thu Jan 04, 2007 17:40 pm Calling collect |
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ahhhh
right
Cuanto cuesta la hamburguesa?
For whatever reason I figured that "carga" would be a cognate. _________________ Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2482 Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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#8 (permalink) Thu Jan 04, 2007 17:53 pm Calling collect |
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| prezbucky wrote: | | For whatever reason I figured that "carga" would be a cognate. |
Well, you're partly right, it is a cognate of 'charge' in the military and electric sense of the word. Come to think of it, it can also mean 'tax', though the word 'impuesto' is more common. |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#9 (permalink) Thu Jan 04, 2007 18:00 pm Calling collect |
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thank you, conchita
This is my "learnin'" history of Spanish:
- Four years in high school - One year in college - Spanish exchange student in our house (de Valencia) - Two tours of duty in Cancun
I was able to get around Cancun fairly well. I am admittedly rusty. hehe
And not knowing how to do the darn accents/tildes is bugging me.
OH, almost forgot:
You know how closely related Spanish and Italian are... well I was in Modena, Italy one night -- I'd gone out to get a beer and ended up getting lost. It was neat -- Italians could understand roughly 50% of my Spanish, or my version of Spanish anyway, as I "asked" for "directions" (I use those terms loosely.. I think that's what I was requesting).
I was making some progress, but was admittedly still lost, when I ran into a Jamaican who knew where my address was, and spoke English... and I made my way back. lol _________________ Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2482 Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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#10 (permalink) Thu Jan 04, 2007 18:28 pm Calling collect |
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| prezbucky wrote: | | And not knowing how to do the darn accents/tildes is bugging me. |
I really feel for you, Tom! You might find some helpful advice here:
http://www.parker.org/Spanish/accent_guide.htm
| prezbucky wrote: | | You know how closely related Spanish and Italian are... |
Yes, but there're also some funny false friends between the two:
Their word for 'butter', 'burro', means 'donkey' in Spanish, and 'caldo' ('cold') is 'broth' in Spanish, for example! |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#11 (permalink) Thu Jan 04, 2007 19:05 pm Calling collect |
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yeah, lol
also:
Spanish: Andar = To walk Ir = To go
Italian (at least how they used them): *Infinitive Andar = To go *Infinitive Ir = To walk
Examples (in action):
Spanish: Vamos = Let's go Andamos = Let's walk
Italian: Viamo = Let's walk Andiamo = Let's go
lol _________________ Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee. |
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Prezbucky I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 2482 Location: Nashville, TN (USA)
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