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Old 22-Jun-2007, 16:05
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Default ring off, hang up

"We were talking on th phone and suddenly she just hang up. Maybe somebody rang at her front door."

Is it possible to replace the phrasal verb "hang up" with "rang off" in this sentence?
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Old 22-Jun-2007, 16:38
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Default Re: ring off, hang up

Your example is in the past tense, so it should read "suddenly she just hung up."

In AmE, "hanging up" is almost always used to refer to the termination of a telephone call. (The earliest telephones were always wall-mounted, and the receiver literally hung from a hook, which is how this expression developed.) I believe in BrE they sometimes say "ring off," but one of our UK members can better answer than.
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Old 22-Jun-2007, 17:13
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Default Re: ring off, hang up

It is possible, and note that ''ring off'' is chiefly British!

All the best!
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Old 22-Jun-2007, 19:14
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Default Re: ring off, hang up

Thanks for your answers! :)
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