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Do you “call in sick” or “call out sick”?

Which do you say

  • Call out sick

    Votes: 135 18.5%

  • Call in sick

    Votes: 593 81.5%
  • Total voters
    728
Dalek

Dalek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,422
This nuance came up in the TSA thread. Some people have never heard the phrase "call out sick" and insist the only way to say this phrase is to "call in sick".

I've only ever heard people say "I'm calling out sick today" or "James called out sick today."

I did a search on this and found a few articles that seem to indicate the difference is regional.

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/call-in-sick-or-call-out-sick



Calling out sick" seems to be most common in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. But some people even say they "call off sick."


This is shaping up to be a nasty flu season, which prompted a listener named Marc to bring up a regionalism I had forgotten about. He said, "My [girlfriend] and I have a bit of a contention...with the bug going on and people getting sick. When they call work, do they call 'in sick' or call 'out sick'?"

  • "Calling out sick" seems to be most common in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, although it is heard a bit in other places.
  • A very small number of people (about six respondents) said they say they "call off sick," which I had never heard before. It was too few people to say anything definitive, but they seem to be scattered across a region from Illinois to Pennsylvania that linguists sometimes call the Inland Northern region.
  • Among the initial responses, a few people said they had worked at different companies in the same city, and at one company everyone said they call in sick, and at another company everyone said they call out sick, which led me to suspect that corporate culture or traditions play a role along with regional differences. And follow-up posts on the original map convinced me even more that corporate culture plays a role. I'm not sure whether regionalisms are behind the corporate culture aspect though. For example, it could be that the human resources departments for the companies that foster a "call out sick" culture are located in the regions where that wording is more common. I just can't tell.
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Deleted member 3058

User requested account closure
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,728
Jebusman said:
The "in" part refers to the direction your call is going. Instead of you, the person, going "in" to work, your phone call is going "in" to your workplace to inform them you will not.

Have you ever heard the phrase "phone in", as in to do something with the most minimal of effort? So little effort they might as well not shown up at all?

Its not "phone out"
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This right here
 
Inugami

Inugami

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,995
My stance is the same as it was in the other thread. You can call in to work for LOTS of reasons, but you only ever call out sick. You don't call out to work to get their lunch orders or call out to your boss to see what hours you work the next week.
 
Volimar

Volimar

volunteer forum janitor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
39,942
Call in sick. Central Ohio in case it's a regional thing.
 
erpg

erpg

Member
Oct 25, 2017
373
Ottawa
KojiKnight said:
My stance is the same as it was in the other thread. You can call in to work for LOTS of reasons, but you only ever call out sick. You don't call out to work to get their lunch orders or call out to your boss to see what hours you work the next week.
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I see 0 reasoning for sick being different though?
 
Nakenorm

Nakenorm

"This guy are sick"
The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
22,836
Edit. Nevermind I'm tired and got the whole thread wrong.

I've only heard call in sick
 
Lkr

Lkr

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,950
Call out

But in reality it's send a text or email and work from home
 
overcast

overcast

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,633
At my past few jobs we would say "[blank] called out".

So usually we don't say sick at all? Southern California.
 
Alec

Alec

Hero of Bowerstone
Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,763
Louisville, KY
Call in. Kentucky.

Also, I call a soda by it's product name. Coke, Sprite, etc. If I am using a general term, I use "soft drink."
 
Lkr

Lkr

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,950
Dalek said:
Exactly. No one picks up a phone and "calls" someone to let them know this.
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I'm young enough where I've legit never worked a job where I needed to make a phone call when calling out fwiw. I imagine not many workplaces have people calling anymore but I have to imagine there was a time it was a phone call
 
Hiphopopotamus

Hiphopopotamus

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,885
Jeebus. The pedantry is disgusting

You make a call 'in' to your office, so you can tell them you're going to be 'out.'

You could also be bellowing out your window because your boss walks by your house with a fresh croissant every morning. You could yell--because you might be contagious--"out sick" to inform her of your condition.

This whole argument seems to rely on a lack of imagination.
 
Brinbe

Brinbe

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
60,098
Terana
You don't say call in sick, you call in, as in you call in to work. And though I can just text now, I've definitely worked jobs where I've called in.
 
Joeku

Joeku

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,483
Dalek said:
I view it as :

* I'm "calling" to let my boss know I'm "out sick"

Whereas it seems you view it as

* I'm "calling in" to let me boss know I'm "sick".
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Yeah this is where the contention is. The "out"/"in" aren't necessarily opposites in each phrase. For my part, it's "in", from Central Canada.
 
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petethepanda

petethepanda

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,223
chicago
I never thought about it but I think I say both, depending on the tense. I'd say "I am calling in sick," but then also "I called out sick."
 
Keldroc

Keldroc

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,124
You "call in sick" or you are "out sick." "Call out sick" is a malapropism that must have caught on in the northeast.
 
Dyle

Dyle

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
30,412
You call in to the office so that you can stay out while you're sick. So call in
 

Deleted member 12224

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,113
In is superfluous next to call. Of course you're calling "in" to where you called. "Call" the office and "Call in" to the office are the same thing.
 
awesomeopossum

awesomeopossum

Member
Oct 30, 2017
153
queens, ny
Found out in that thread that "call out" is mostly just a NYC thing, 'cause yeah I've never heard someone call-in sick before.

Lived in NYC all my life btw.
 
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