phone tag
A situation in which two individuals attempting to contact each other by telephone repeatedly do not get a live person and instead trade messages, such as by voice mail.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“We keep playing phone tag all morning.”
“You and your sister always play phone tag on the weekends.”
“Stop playing phone tag and just send a text message instead.”
“I have been playing phone tag with the doctor's office all day, leaving messages but never catching them in the office.”
“My landlord and I played phone tag for a week before we finally discussed the broken heater.”
“The recruiter left another message, so now we are back to playing phone tag regarding the job.”
“The plumber and I are stuck in a cycle of phone tag, as he calls back while I am in meetings and I return his calls during his lunch break.”
“After days of frustrating phone tag, the two lawyers finally connected to discuss the settlement terms before the court deadline.”
A compound of phone and tag, the latter referring to the children’s game. The term appeared in the late 20th century to describe the state of two parties repeatedly missing one another’s telephonic calls.
- 01
dog
[Cockney slang]phone
- 02
hold the phone
stop; wait; whoa.
- 03
phone in
To fulfill a responsibility with a minimum effort rather than the appropriate level of effort.
- 04
tag along
To accompany, join, or follow; to go with.
- 05
telephone tag
A situation in which a person unsuccessfully attempts to contact another person by telephone and leaves a message instead, and in which the second person then unsuccessfully attempts to return the initial call and leaves a message for the first person, and so on as if the two are playing a game of tag in which the most recent person to have been left with a message is now designated as "it" (i.e. as the player now obliged to chase the other and to attempt anew to make contact).
Last updated August 10, 2026