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Do You Call In Sick or Call Out Sick?

A Vermont listener says that if she has to be absent from work due to illness, she would call in sick. Her twenty-something daughters, however, use the phrase call out sick. Is this a generational difference, or a regional one, and is one more prevalent or correct than the other? Both are grammatically correct, but most Americans say call in sick. The call out version is largely associated with the New York metropolitan area, but spreading to adjacent states. This is part of a complete episode.

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