Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] Don't call us, we'll call youMeaning Don't bother to pursue your application further. Origin A fuller version of this phrase would be 'Don't call us, we'll call you - if we need to'. Of course, anyone hearing this line can reasonably expect not to need to wait by the phone. It is a quite recent phrase - mid 20th century American, and appears to derive from the brush-off lines given to theatrical auditioners. The earliest citation I've come across is the East Liverpool Review (Ohio), 1952:
It is sufficiently clichéd now to be often shortened to "don't call us" and widespread enough to be used as a term of rejection in a variety of circumstances. |