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On the telephone, the person answering it may say "Who is calling?" or "Who is this?" Why do you say "this" to the caller on the other end of the phone? Is is wrong to say "Who is that?"

herisson
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Fujibei
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    Because you're speaking *to* the other person, you share a common reference frame (this telephone conversation here, not that one there). Asking "Who is that?" would be like asking "Who is he?" instead of "Who are *you*?" – FumbleFingers Aug 18 '13 at 00:07
  • @FumbleFingers I would never say "Who is this?" in BrE. I might say "Who's that?", or "Who's calling?", or "Who am I speaking to?. OTOH, if the other person asked me (in whatever terms), who they were speaking to, I might answer "This is Trevor". Hence, if I use this when referring to myself, my (perhaps perverse) logic tells me that if I ask "Who is this?", I'm asking about myself; and therefore when asking about the other person, I'd say "Who is that?" – TrevorD Aug 18 '13 at 00:49
  • @TrevorD: Maybe I overstated things. If you hear a noise in the dark, you're more likely to say "Who's there?" than "Who's here?", obviously. But looking in Google Books for phone who's this and phone who's that it seems clear most of the first are words spoken into the phone. Most of the second are from other people asking who someone was speaking to on the phone. – FumbleFingers Aug 18 '13 at 00:57
  • @FumbleFingers I've always thought (rightly or wrongly) that Americans are more likely to say "Who is this?", and Brits more likely to say "Who is that?". If so, that would skew any Google results enough to make them relatively meaningless. Of course, none of this really answers OP's Qs *Why do you say "this"?* and Is it wrong to say "that"? – TrevorD Aug 18 '13 at 01:03
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    if your child came walking up to you with a friend you'd never met, would you ask your child, "Who's that?" or "Who's this?" – Jim Aug 18 '13 at 01:41
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    As Fillmore describes it in his Deixis Lectures, in a phone conversation, in a statement, this refers to the speaker: This is Bill; in a question, this refers to the listener: Is this Harry? Similarly, in a statement that refers to some noise or person on the speaker's end: That's Max you hear; in a question that refers to some noise or person on the listener's end: Is that Mary I hear? – John Lawler Aug 18 '13 at 02:52
  • @TrevorD: I wouldn't normally use either - "Who's speaking [please]?" seems less peremptory to me. But that does seem a bit weird in the exact context of asking a caller's name. – FumbleFingers Aug 18 '13 at 03:00
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    Somewhat related: “John, phone call for you!” — “Who is it?” – Janus Bahs Jacquet Aug 18 '13 at 05:16
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    I'm with TrevorD on this one - BrE uses that. It seems logical to use that for something/someone remote from the speaker. A traditionalist Brit might think the caller was playing games if he was asked to guess "Who is this?" – DavidR Aug 18 '13 at 11:56
  • @Jim If the child & friend were adjacent to you, you'd say "Who's this?", but if the child's friend was a little distance away (e.g. still on the playing field), I think you'd say "Who's that?". That's consistent with BrE 'phone usage: this refers to the speaker's end; and that refers to the remote end. – TrevorD Aug 18 '13 at 12:16
  • @JohnLawler Presumably your lecturer was discussing US usage? Is my comment to FF that " Americans are more likely to say 'Who is this?'" correct? – TrevorD Aug 18 '13 at 12:20
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    Depends on whether they mean "who am I speaking to?" or "who is talking in the background?" The first one is Who is this?, the second that. In the US. However, it's not common, because it's normal to either recognize the voice, see the name on the phone, or have the call start with This is Bill Jones or some such. It's unusual to have to ask who a caller is, and it's generally done with some emphasis, usually to interrupt a script. In that case, the is would be stressed -- Who *is* this? – John Lawler Aug 18 '13 at 17:20
  • I don't know about you all, but I never answer a phone call saying "Who is this?". I don't know, but it seems confrontational. I say "Hello!" and wait for the caller to identify themselves. – Cyberherbalist Aug 21 '13 at 17:14
  • I rang our local TV station and the receptionist asked, "Who is this?" "The receptionist at my local TV station," I told her, trying to be helpful. –  Aug 21 '13 at 17:52
  • @DavidR - "A traditionalist Brit might think the caller was playing games ...". So, if you called me on the phone, and I asked you "Who is this?", you would take that as me asking you "Who am I?". While I can see your point, I'm sure I've said "Who is this?" to someone on the phone, and "Who is that?" somehow seems unnatural to me. – Kevin Fegan Apr 19 '16 at 09:03
  • The logical question to ask when answering a phone is "Who are you?"—but most English speakers wouldn't think of starting off by asking that question. Indeed, if you did, you would be considered rude, a nonnative speaker, or very ignorant of idiomatic norms. – Sven Yargs Jun 24 '17 at 00:07
  • Neither. Show a little class: "To whom am I speaking." And for your children's friends adopt an appropriate tone, e.g. "What's your name sonny". – David Jul 18 '17 at 22:50

3 Answers3

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"This" and "that" are used to reference something. "This" usually refers to something close by. "That" refers to something far away. So the distance differentiates "This" and "That. The distance does not have to be a physical distance but could be a metaphorical distance too; closeness in time or similarity. You can say "Who is this?" to someone on the phone (close to your ear). But you say "Who is that?" to someone on the street while you are sitting in the living room. I hope this clears it up for you. Otherwise, the confusion continues and we don't want that.

Pickle55
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You would say "Who is this" because this is a Predicate Nominative and shares the same context as the subject. For example, both "Who is this?" (Subjective) and "Whom is that?" (Objective) are correct. Also, "Whose is this?" is also correct (Possessive).

Timtech
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    I don't think you would ever say "whom is that" or "whose is this" when answering the phone. – MetaEd Aug 19 '13 at 15:16
  • You wouldn't; I didn't realize what I implied. I just meant that whom is that and whose is this are grammatically correct. – Timtech Aug 19 '13 at 15:43
  • But "whom is that" is not grammatically correct. "This" and "that" don't have anything to do with subjective and objective case. – herisson Jun 24 '17 at 00:47
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It may not be technically wrong but it sounds just a bit awkward to me to say "Who is that?" over the phone.

I agree with Pickle55 for the most part. "This" seems to me to imply something which is immediately at hand, nearby physically or in time or more intangibly, something involved in my current conversation or activity. "That" seems to be external, far away physically or temporally or metaphorically outside of my current conversation or activity.

I found a very simple article here describing the way these two words are often used in common American speech. I have no clue if that's a valid reference or not (I need to read the rules about citations) but it made sense to me.

I say that it sounds awkward in the sentence "Who is that?" only because it seems just off to me, so its only a matter of my personal opinion.

Jane U
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