Spare with me

[goingtocalifornia]

Quite often when I call somewhere I hear (I’m not sure if I remember well): “spare with me”, I know what that person want to say (wait a minute, don’t disconnect, hang on), but I can’t find in a dictionary such an explanation, so I wonder if you could correct me whether what I often hear is “spare with me” or something different.

[Anglika]

Possibly you have a mishearing: "Please bear with me" - please be patient while I check something/do something.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Possibly you have a mishearing: "Please bear with me" - please be patient while I check something/do something.

Aha - that's where the 's' came from; I was going to chip in, but missed this.

Incidentally, there are people (no names ) who feel that 'bear with' is best reserved for situations where the person providing a service is forced to offer a limited service: 'Please bear with us during the rebuilding'. The person offering the service has to bear something, and they ask for the customer's understanding of that inconvenience.

[I am, of course, aware that the expression is often used more loosely now.]

b

[goingtocalifornia]

Originally Posted by Anglika

Possibly you have a mishearing: "Please bear with me" - please be patient while I check something/do something.

Yes, that must have been "bear with me".
Thanks a lot.