"Business English" or just wrong?

Question

I'm a native speaker of English, from Canada, but I've been living in Switzerland for five years and fear I'm losing my sense of idioms.

Question: Is the expression "at our call" correct? As in "We will discuss the matter at our next call", referring to a conference call. It would be modelled on "at our meeting"; in fact the call itself would be basically a meeting--does that make "at" correct? Do any native English-speaking business people in English-speaking places say that? Where?

Not sure if that was clear--is "at" used in this case?

Answer 1

Personally, it would jar a little with me (English speaker in England). I'd prefer either "in our next call" or even "during our next call". "At our next call" seems just a little clunky, but the bottom line is whether or not the speaker and the listener both understand the time and occasion being refered to, and if they do, then it should probably be considered effective communication, whehter or not it's exactly good English. The one thing I've learned over nine years as a journalist is that "good English" is constantly changing and consistently fluid, so as long as everyone's happy they understand, I'm happy :o) Interesting question though.

Answer 2

Yes, that is correct business English. The metaphor of being "at" a meeting or a business call (in the sense of a visit) has been extended to the conference call or the business call (in the sense of a phone call). All the phrases formerly associated with face-to-face meetings have been extended to include electronic and telephonic meetings as well now.

Answer 3

While I can't give you the technical reasons why "at" is incorrect, the word "at" can refer to a place of some sort: "The birthday party is going to be at my house." Of course, it can be used in other expressions as well.

The point of using the right words and good grammar, whether in writing or speech, is to make sure that one's meaning is clearly understood. Instead of using the word "at," I would say instead "during our next conference call"; in theory, just the word "call" could be O.K. if it's recognized as a "conference call." However, "during our next call" just doesn't sound right.

Both "meeting" and "conference call" can be actions, but unlike "call" a meeting can refer to a specified or understood location or the gathering of people that make up the meeting. That's probably why "at our next meeting" is correct and sounds right, while "at our next call" is incorrect and doesn't sound right. I guess that's why they call them idioms--expressions peculiar to a particular language that a person who simply learns the lanuage as a second language does not understand because they have a meaning besides their literal meaning.

I hope this helps.

Answer 4

It is correct. Meetings are called by someone. so the next the boss or who ever calls for a meeting. In fact it usually is by telephone. Business English has its own set of words used by the general business public.

Answer 5

Many prepositions are used rather loosely and idiomatically in English (and in Spanish, my other language) The meaning is plain enough, though it sounds a bit odd to this midwesterner.

At does not imply place in English. It can also imply time very comfortably as in "at the stroke of midnight," or "at the sound of the tone..." or even "at your leisure," and "at your service."

At sounds odd to me as you describe its use above, but that doesn't make it wrong, confusing, or improper. For my taste, in or during sounds better, but I find no general principle which makes at, in, on, or during better in the circumstance you describe..

As George Carlin has noted, we get in a car, but we typically get on a plane, train, or bus. (Huh-uh! I'm getting IN the plane. d:c)

Answer 6

I've heard that plenty of times in the northeast U.S., replacing "meeting" with "call."