How do people answer the phone in Britain?

My colleague who lives in Cornwall I just realized answers her home phone with her village and ###. I think it's very quaint!

i have caller ID, if it is family i answer with "what do you want or hiya, depending what mood I am in"

If someone i dont know, it is Hello

I know it's pathetic useless trivia

Not at all!       In a telephone technical group we once had a long-running thread about phone numbers used in movies and TV shows, both genuine numbers which appear in context (e.g. WHItehall 1212) and fictitious numbers used in that one movie or show (e.g. KLondike 5-1234).

I've even seen a website database of such numbers!

Fictional movie/TV numbers in the States are always 555-XXXX, if you hadn't noticed. The 555 exchange is telephone information. I've heard all my life that they had to do that because any real number they used got flooded with calls. Don't know if that's urban legend. I do know that every time I hear an actor reel off a 555 number, it harshes my willing suspension of disbelief.

Not always - in older films they would have been fake numbers of the type Paul cited - KLondike 5-1234 - as fitting the telephone numbers of the time.

Yes, exactly. And those numbers got flooded with calls, supposedly. Hence the change.

Don't know if that's urban legend. 

I doubt it's legend. I know I certainly rang 8675309 a few times when I was young.

I doubt it's legend. I know I certainly rang 8675309 a few times when I was young.

LOL! Me too! 

That's definitely the reason they use the fake 555 numbers.

Yes, exactly. And those numbers got flooded with calls, supposedly. Hence the change.

Peedal is saying that those were fake numbers too. Just in a different (older) format.

Oh. Gotcha.

I didn't see this thread before but wanted to chime in and say that as we have caller ID, I just say "hi <name>, whats up?" It's freaked a few of my friends out in the past but they're used to it now.  I don't answer calls where I don't know the number. They can leave a message.

Not always - in older films they would have been fake numbers of the type Paul cited - KLondike 5-1234 - as fitting the telephone numbers of the time.

Peedal is saying that those were fake numbers too. Just in a different (older) format.

KLondike 5-1234 is the same number as 555-1234 (the letters/names were purely for human convenience; the equipment just registers the number and neither knows nor cares whether you were dialing a 5 or a K).   The 2-letter-plus-5-number format was adopted as standard across the U.S. with the move to Direct Distance Dialing, but most cities changed over to all-figure numbering during the latter half of the 1960s (some not until the 1970s or even early 1980s).

The 2L-5N format is the reason that 555 was universally vacant (and in fact why all 55x prefixes were rare).  There aren't many suitable names which can be derived with combinations of JKL.   That's how KLondike 5 came to be adopted as a fictitous prefix in the early 1960s, and this just became 555 with the move to all-figure numbering.

There are actually some real 555-xxxx numbers in use in some area codes now (apart from 555-1212 for information).

I doubt it's legend. I know I certainly rang 8675309 a few times when I was young.

Indeed it isn't legend.  I understand that when "Jenny" was released quite a number of phone companies all over America received complaints from customers whose number was 867-5309.

Now we know who was responsible for at least some of those calls!   

In early episodes of 'I Love Lucy', the Ricardos' phone number was Murray Hill 5-9975, then Circle 7-2099, then Murray Hill 5-9099. Knowing that the numbers would be called by many viewers, Desilu Productions worked with the phone company. They were given numbers to use that had not been assigned to anyone yet. As the numbers were needed, the Ricardos were given new numbers.

In a recent episode of 'Scrubs', Turk gets his ideal cell phone number -- 916-CALL-TURK (actually, CALL TUR, but he hoped people would dial the 'K', to which JD responds, 'I'll always dial the K for you.'). This is an actual number, and many people have called it. It usually gives you a recorded message about Scrubs (including, at one point, a pitch about voting for them for the People's Choice Awards), but it's also sometimes answered by a member of cast or crew. The phone is kept on the set and if somebody's passing by and in the mood, they'll answer it.

but it's also sometimes answered by a member of cast or crew. The phone is kept on the set and if somebody's passing by and in the mood, they'll answer it.

Of course I had to call!!

I got a message from someone named Doug who couldn't come to the phone because they were trying to pull a body off him.

Heeheee! 

Of course I had to call!!

I got a message from someone named Doug who couldn't come to the phone because they were trying to pull a body off him.

Heeheee! 

DH has GOT to do this, he's a massive scrubs fan...in fact, he is JD!

That's very cool. I'm amazed no other program has ever seen the advertising possibilities.