10 forgotten wonders of 1980s homes

tony duell ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk
Wed Dec 30 07:20:17 CST 2015


> 
> I do have to say, though, that in the '80s many if not most phones had
> transitioned to touch-tone 'dialing' (what a delightfully archaic term!).

Not as archaic as 'to ring off' (which dates back to magneto-ringing telephones
where you gave the magneto a little crank at the end of the call to indicate to
the operator to disconnect you) or 'to hang up' which refers to the wall and
candlestick telephones with a receiver hanging on the hookswtich on the side.

Both those terms are in common use in the UK.

-tony


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