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Is the saying Beckon call or beck and call?

  • You can be said to be at someones beck and call. Sounds like more of that old British saying.
 

  • The term "beck and call" used in a sentence is "Sue has her husband running at her beck and call." Beck is a short term for "Becoming" (summoning someone to you as if by order) and call means to call out or demand. In other words the person who has people coming to their "beck and call" is in control.
  • "Beckon call" is incorrect. "... at someones beck and call" is correct. Beckon is a verb, not an adjective. "Beck" is a noun. "To beckon" is like "to call" or "to summon". "Beck" is like "call" or "summon".
  • First, the fact that the word "beckon" is older than it's abbreviation "beck" is irrelevant. The correct term is "beck and call." "*Beckon call" is a mishearing of the correct term. This is born out by a simple trip to any dictionary. Fabricated stories about "servient" gestures aside, the term "beck and call" is the only correct term. That said, the first answer is also incorrect. The term "beck" does not come from a shortening of "become." Rather, as stated, it is a shortening of "beckon," from the old English "becnan." Nonetheless, its use in the idiomatic "beck and call" stems from the middle English, and was not in use prior. All of this is easily confirmed by consulting a dictionary. One might also be well-served looking up the definition of the word "apprehension" as well.

More simply stated a "beck" is a silent summoning, as in a nod or other gesture or a beacon, and a "call" is a sounded summoning, as in a shout or other type of oral command or a bugle or drum.

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First answer by Soccerman58. Last edit by JimRutherford. Contributor trust: 0 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 19 [recommend question].

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