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busy vs. engaged

English translation: busy should be OK in the UK

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:busy vs. engaged
Selected answer:busy should be OK in the UK
Entered by: Charlesp

22:59 Oct 10, 2006
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Telecom(munications)
English term or phrase: busy vs. engaged
or "occupied"
In the US the telephone line is "busy," and in England it is "engaged." And some in Europe say it is "occupied."

The question is if most people in England would understand "the line being busy". (as not everyone in the US would understand that a telephone could get engaged)
Charlesp
Sweden
Local time: 16:11
busy should be OK
Explanation:
I think that "busy" should be understood by most people in the UK, especially anyone with a TV, who should be used to seeing US programmes and films with people talking about phones being "busy" :-)

I would however, refute Anna's suggestion that "in the UK, we usually say the line is busy" (interesting use of "we", given where she lives!).

As you are in Sweden, I'm not sure whether the google.co.uk option is available to you with the facility to search only UK pages, so I've done it for you :-) Googling various telephone terms and phrases with "busy" and then "engaged" indicates that engaged is at least 3 times more popular than busy on UK pages, and sometimes up to 10 times more popular, depending on the phrase you pick.

All that said, however, I would think that if you're aiming for some kind of universally understood term, then "busy" would be OK.

I did wonder for a moment whether a term such as "in use" might work universally; however with the advent of broadband and suchlike, my line can be "in use" as it is now, without being engaged, so you'd need to be careful about that if you did try some other option.
Selected response from:

Charlie Bavington
Local time: 15:11
Grading comment
all answers are useful, so kudoz to all, but Kudoz points to this one as it was the most detailed and explanitory - useful to otheres for future reference
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +6"busy" would be generally understood (I think!)
Peter Shortall
5 +3The line is busy. Please hold.
Anna Maria Augustine (X)
3 +4busy should be OK
Charlie Bavington


  

Answers


14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
The line is busy. Please hold.


Explanation:
In the UK, we usually say the line is busy for the moment.

In the US ( and elsewhere) someone might be engaged to be married but a telephone is not usually considered to be engaged.

In Europe, or in France; occupé meaning occupied is used.

That line is busy at the moment is your best bet.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2006-10-10 23:16:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

He/She is on the line at the moment. Would you like to hold?
Busy then does not come into it.

Anna Maria Augustine (X)
France
Local time: 16:11
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Vitaly Kisin
5 mins
agree  zaphod
55 mins
neutral  Tony M: I certainly couldn't agree that "in the UK we [sic!] usually say the line is busy..." — this still sounds like an Americanism to UK ears
6 hrs
agree  maryrose: with Tony
6 hrs
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57 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
busy should be OK


Explanation:
I think that "busy" should be understood by most people in the UK, especially anyone with a TV, who should be used to seeing US programmes and films with people talking about phones being "busy" :-)

I would however, refute Anna's suggestion that "in the UK, we usually say the line is busy" (interesting use of "we", given where she lives!).

As you are in Sweden, I'm not sure whether the google.co.uk option is available to you with the facility to search only UK pages, so I've done it for you :-) Googling various telephone terms and phrases with "busy" and then "engaged" indicates that engaged is at least 3 times more popular than busy on UK pages, and sometimes up to 10 times more popular, depending on the phrase you pick.

All that said, however, I would think that if you're aiming for some kind of universally understood term, then "busy" would be OK.

I did wonder for a moment whether a term such as "in use" might work universally; however with the advent of broadband and suchlike, my line can be "in use" as it is now, without being engaged, so you'd need to be careful about that if you did try some other option.

Charlie Bavington
Local time: 15:11
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
all answers are useful, so kudoz to all, but Kudoz points to this one as it was the most detailed and explanitory - useful to otheres for future reference
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Charlie for your so detailed response, the work involved, and the assistance it provides. And I am glad you weren't to busy to take on this engagement.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Peter Shortall
9 mins
agree  Will Matter: Hello, CB.
58 mins
agree  Tony M: Yes, although 'engaged' sounds more natural, I don't think anyone in the UK could fail to understand 'busy'
5 hrs
agree  Alfa Trans (X)
1 day 17 hrs
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51 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +6
"busy" would be generally understood (I think!)


Explanation:
In answer to your question, I for one would understand "busy", though "occupied" would sound strange to me (it's clear enough what it means, but it sounds like a Gallicism). I don't use "busy" myself, and "engaged" is what I normally hear and use, but it's very difficult to imagine what else it could be taken to mean.

I can't speak for most people, but I've quickly asked the rest of my family and they all understood it straight away, so I've a feeling it would be generally recognised.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2006-10-11 00:01:17 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I should probably have said that "occupied" sounds like a Latinism, since I imagine the Italian, Spanish etc. words are also similar (the Romanian one certainly is).

Peter Shortall
United Kingdom
Native speaker of: English
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Peter, much appreciated.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Charlie Bavington: Did you wake 'em all up to ask them? :-) Or do you live with a family of badgers... :-))
7 mins
  -> We're a family of night owls, my brother in particular! Although when I say "rest", there are only two others...
agree  juvera: Occupied and engaged are synonymous./I mean, when you think of the It. Sp. etc. expression, first you would think: it means occupied. I merely pointed out that they are synonymous, it should be translated as engaged, according to the English usage.
26 mins
  -> Hm... for some reason I don't think I've heard "occupied" used for an engaged line here, but maybe I need to get out more!
agree  Will Matter
1 hr
agree  NancyLynn: not sure about occupied either...
1 hr
agree  R. Alex Jenkins: In the UK you could say 'busy' or 'engaged' equally.
1 hr
agree  Tony M: Not 'occupied', of course, that is for toilets!
5 hrs
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