Everyday Office Jargon · Intern level

"Phone tag"

"Phone tag" describes the back-and-forth that happens when two people keep missing each other's calls and leaving voicemails instead of connecting.

Say this instead: missed calls back and forth

How "Phone tag" shows up at work

A relic phrase that survived into the Slack era because the experience is timeless. Still used to explain why something simple took three days longer than it should have.

Buzzword

We've been playing phone tag all week and I still haven't reached her.

Plain English

We've been missing each other's calls all week and I still haven't reached her.

Corporate Rank: Intern · Category: Everyday Office Jargon

Stop sounding like the buzzword.

Buzzkill highlights "Phone tag" and 634 other buzzwords in Gmail and LinkedIn, and rewrites them to plain English in one click. Free to try, 100% local.

Add to Chrome, free

More Everyday Office Jargon: 30,000 ft. View · 800-pound gorilla · A day late and a dollar short · A lot on my plate · Above my pay grade · Ace in the hole

All Everyday Office Jargon · The full library · What's your Corporate Rank?