Kristin in San Clemente, California, wonders why actors in old movies often hang up the phone without saying goodbye. It’s not just old movies! In fact, you can watch supercuts of lots of modern movies where the same thing happens. Although this convention may seem unrealistic, it’s just an expedient way to move the action along. Kristin says she’s also observed young smartphone users behaving similarly, but in a time of 24/7 digital communication, there’s less need for such verbal niceties because the conversation never really ends. Incidentally, after The Guardian ran an article about characters who skip saying goodbye at the end of phone calls, readers responded with many more examples of things that seem to happen only in the movies. This is part of a complete episode.
More from this show
When you’re talking about the location of an inanimate object, is it okay to say that it lives there, as in The peanut butter lives in that cabinet or The flashlight lives on that shelf? Strictly speaking, of course, that object isn’t...
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...