Sometimes Help Is Just 'A Phone Call Away'

01And now, words and their stories from VOA Learning English.

02On today's show, we talk about some expressions that deal with an important device in our lives.

03Our phones.

04With a smartphone, we can connect to the world.

05In fact, we can say smartphones give us the world at our fingertips.

06Needless to say, we use our phones to stay in contact with the people in our lives.

07We use them to reach out to our friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers.

08So, when we tell someone that we are just a phone call away, what we are really telling them is that we are available.

09We are there for them.

10We often use this expression to offer help to someone who is in a difficult situation or just in need of a friendly voice.

11For example, let's say my friend is having a hard time with an advanced English course.

12The assignments are difficult, the material is hard to understand, and his teacher has not been answering his emails.

13I can say to him, look, if you ever need help, I'm just a phone call away.

14Call anytime.

15It's good to be available to some people some of the time, but maybe not all the time.

16We all have someone in our lives who contacts us too much.

17They may blow up our phones with a flood of calls and text messages.

18When your phone blows up, someone is trying to contact you repeatedly.

19Here's an example.

20Let's say your neighbor, Jana, is having trouble with another neighbor, Jake.

21And you are in the middle of it.

22They are both blowing up your phone with calls and texts about their disagreement.

23You can tell them, hold the phone, just stop, talk to each other, and work out your problems, because I've had enough.

24The expression, hold the phone, is a way to say wait or stop.

25We use it when we hear something surprising, or when we have had enough of a situation.

26And it doesn't have to be about phone calls or texts.

27For example, let's say a friend tells me that my favorite singer is coming to town.

28I can't believe it.

29So I can say, hold the phone, are you serious?

30It's like saying, hold on a minute.

31Now let's go back to your arguing neighbors, Jana and Jake.

32Let's say they take your advice.

33They are willing to work out their problems.

34They try to call each other, but keep missing each other's calls.

35First, Jana calls Jake, but he isn't available.

36Then Jake calls her back, but now Jana isn't available.

37They play phone tag like this for days, until they finally speak to each other.

38Tag is a child's game.

39One person is it and must chase and tag or touch the other children.

40So phone tag is when two people try to contact each other, but their calls go unanswered.

41At least Jake and Jana are trying to work out their problems.

42When it comes to keeping relationships happy in the neighborhood, they are not phoning it in.

43When we phone it in, we don't try our best at something.

44We don't give our best efforts.

45For example, some people who lose interest in their jobs might start phoning it in.

46They stop trying and do not do their best work.

47That's not the case with us here at VOA Learning English.

48We are not phoning it in.

49We work hard every day to bring you new English learning content.

50And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.

51Until next time, I'm Ana Mateo.

52We are not phoning it in.

53We are not phoning it in.

54We are not phoning it in.

55We are not phoning it in.

56We are not phoning it in.

57We are not phoning it in.

58We are not phoning it in.

59We are not phoning it in.

60We are not phoning it in.

61We are not phoning it in.