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how much a dealing is making on the sale of
Feb 1, 2005 17:42
19 yrs ago
English term

on

Non-PRO English Other Linguistics
You can contact me on XXX (XXX is the telephone number). Is on the correct preposition here?
Responses
4 +14 on
4 +12 at
5 +3 at
4 +3 at
5 +1 on (British English) at (American English)
4 +2 on
5 at
4 -2 by

Discussion

Kim Metzger Feb 1, 2005:
British or US English?

Responses

+14
3 mins
Selected

on

With all due respect to Kim, I always say "on" for a phone number, "at" for a place ("at my office", "at home", or "on my home/office number"...except my office is at home).

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Note added at 24 mins (2005-02-01 18:07:15 GMT)
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Hello folks. I have checked all the agreers\' profiles, and found that, of those who are from an identifiable English-speaking country, the division is quite clear: UK/Aus for \"on\" and US for \"at\" (I didn\'t observe any other English-speaking nationalities). Also, by Googling the phrases \"contact-me-on\" and \"contact-me-at\", and actually CHECKING the pages, I found the same pattern. So that pretty well settles it.
Peer comment(s):
agree Katherine Hodkinson
1 min
Thanks.
agree AngieD : maybe it's a BE/AE thing, but I would also always use "on
8 mins
My Google searches confirm your suspicions. Also, "on" is used in Australia.
agree Peter Linton (X)
12 mins
Thanks.
agree Rebecca Hendry : Yes, I have always used "on" for a number, "at" for a place.
12 mins
Thanks.
agree Will Matter : "at" is used in US/Canada. "On" is UK/Europeans who learned English in Europe and the reason why Australia also uses "on" should be obvious.
19 mins
Thanks.
agree juvera
22 mins
Thanks.
agree Charlie Bavington : yep. What with Australia being British and all. Bit like the Isle of Wight, only bigger and further away. And sunnier.//I was being facetious. As regards the cricket - not getting humped on a regular basis would probably not be a bad thing !
40 mins
Australia gained its independence on 1 January 1901...unfortunately I'm not old enough to share your recollections of when Australia was "British". If we were British we wouldn't be able to play cricket, now would we?//And I was being serious??
agree Laurel Porter (X) : I think you were the 1st one to twig to the correctness of both "at" and "on", depending on the region. Well done!
45 mins
Thanks.
agree Ian M-H (X) : with Laurel and the results of your extensive research
1 hr
Thanks.
agree Madeleine MacRae Klintebo : def. most informative answer (and I'm 'on' i.e. UK)
1 hr
Thanks.
agree Armorel Young
1 hr
Thanks.
agree Melanie Nassar : I guess I have to agree with you to get you to tell me what "root" means in Australian // In that case, I won't root for the WHOLE team :-)
2 hrs
It means to have sex.
agree rangepost
4 hrs
Thanks.
agree Stefanie Sendelbach : armaat has sex with the whole home team??
7 hrs
I remember the leader of a US team of "cheerleaders" being interviewed on arrival in Australia, and saying they'd been instructed *not* to say "We're here to root for our team!"
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks"
+12
1 min

at

Would be the correct preposition here.
Peer comment(s):
agree Barbara Kremer
1 min
At least in the US.
agree Empty Whiskey Glass : Faster, faster!
2 mins
agree Will Matter : "on" is non-standard usage, "at" is correct.
3 mins
agree Misiaczek
15 mins
agree sarahl (X)
31 mins
agree Clauwolf
41 mins
agree Melanie Nassar : not much point in my agree, really, until the asker decides (and tells us) whether he wants BE or AE. But I have to root for the home team! // Sorry, didn't realize I was making a lewd proposition. :-)
56 mins
agree Richard Benham : "Here", as in in North America. Just for Armaat's benefit, "root" has quite a different meaning in Australia too. I can't remember whether the Brits also use it....
1 hr
agree humbird : I vote for New World English. Woops, Australia is New World. Well whaterver.......
2 hrs
agree rangepost
4 hrs
agree Java Cafe
5 hrs
agree Maria Chmelarova
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
+3
2 mins

at

You can contact me at
Peer comment(s):
agree Will Matter
2 mins
agree sarahl (X)
30 mins
agree Clauwolf
41 mins
Something went wrong...
+3
2 mins

at

I would use "at".
Peer comment(s):
agree Will Matter
2 mins
thanks
agree sarahl (X)
30 mins
thanx!
agree Clauwolf
40 mins
thanx!
Something went wrong...
-2
13 mins

by

"Contact me by phone" seems to be another possibility. Hope it helps. Good luck, Francis!
[PDF] May News Along the Pike
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
... Contact me by phone (4-5443) or e- mail (MORRISONJ), and I'll help or find
the expert who can. Jim Morrison is the Center’s Ombudsman. ...
www.fda.gov/cder/pike/may98.pdf

76,200 English pages for "contact me by phone".

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Note added at 2005-02-01 17:59:10 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

588,000 English pages for phone \"contact me at\".
62,400 English pages for phone \"contact me on\".

HowtoComplain - Write your own complaint letter
... Please contact me at the above address or by phone [give numbers]. Yours sincerely.
[Sign]. ... Please contact me at the above address or by phone [give numbers]. ...
www.howtocomplain.com/info/cl-template.shtml
Reference:

http://www.fda.gov/cder/pike/may98.pdf

http://www.google.ru/search?hl=en&as_qdr=all&q=%22contact+me+by+phone%22&btnG=Search&lr=lang_en

Peer comment(s):
neutral Kim Metzger : By phone is definitely correct, but here the asker has included a phone number.
6 mins
My version is 'Contact me by *phone* (4-5443)' w/o any preposition before the number, Kim Metzger, to avoid preposition before the number itself.
disagree Richard Benham : "By" with a number doesn't work. You still need to choose a preposition: "contact me by phone ??? +61882870443". Your Google searches are contaminated by other possible collocations.
8 mins
My version is 'Contact me by *phone* (4-5443)' w/o any preposition before the number, Richard Benham, to avoid preposition before the number itself.
neutral Will Matter : "at" and "on" are correct, "by" and "in" are not.
12 mins
My version is 'Contact me by *phone* (4-5443)' w/o any preposition before the number, willmatter, to avoid preposition (*on* in BE & *at* in AE ) before the number itself.
disagree Ian M-H (X) : Kim and Richard are correct. "By phone at 123..." would work, as would "by phone (123...)". But I don't think that that answers the question here.
55 mins
"by phone (123...)" would work, thank you for confirmation. My version is 'Contact me by *phone* (4-5443)' w/o any preposition before the number, Ian Harknett, to avoid preposition (*on* in BE & *at* in AE ) before the number itself.
neutral mstkwasa : "By" denotes the method with which one contacts (e.g. by phone, not by fax), at/on indicates a specific number to dial. I think it can work as "by phone (xxxx)" but not without parentheses.
1 day 38 mins
No objections, mstkwasa! Especially in respect of parentheses. It's visible from my reference, isn't it?
Something went wrong...
35 mins

at

Rather than an answer, this is more like a pointer... French from France almost obsessively use "on" (sur) for names of places, addresses, phone numbers and the like. Example: I arrive by airbus ON Montreal tomorrow. I think you can go ahead and use "at" because this seems to be the same kind of erroneous use of the word "on" that the French make of it.
Peer comment(s):
neutral sarahl (X) : are you sure about that?
6 hrs
Something went wrong...
+1
38 mins

on (British English) at (American English)

restating for simple clarity
Peer comment(s):
agree Will Matter : I KNEW that this "situation" would occur as soon as I saw the question (prior to reading any answers). Richard is absolutely correct, it's a US/UK difference, all other usage stems from one of those two sources.
7 mins
Something went wrong...
+2
2 mins

on

it's commonly used is every day language.

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Note added at 3 mins (2005-02-01 17:45:43 GMT)
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*in* every day language

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Note added at 44 mins (2005-02-01 18:26:47 GMT)
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lest anyone else was confused, i\'m not suggesting \'in\' as an answer, just correcting my typo!
Peer comment(s):
agree Richard Benham
1 min
snap! :)
agree Will Matter : This is European usage.
3 mins
er... i wasn't suggesting 'in' as an answer to the question, i was correcting my own typo
neutral Laurel Porter (X) : It was clear to me, Katherine! (I agreed with Richard because of the completeness of his answer.)
48 mins
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