person-to-person

person-to-person

1. Of, relating to, or involving communication that occurs directly between two people in real time. Online instant message services allow person-to-person conversations without the awkwardness of a phone call. They do not allow person-to-person voice chat for their online video game in order to avoid bullying and abuse of younger players.
2. obsolete Of, relating to, or involving a telephone call placed through an operator that only incurred a charge should the designated recipient be available to answer. When I traveled around the country as a teenager back in the '60s, I used to make person-to-person calls to my parents asking for Mr. and Mrs. Rutabaga—they'd recognize the fake name and know I'd gotten to my destination in one piece, and I wouldn't have to pay for the long-distance.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

person to person

A phone call for which the intended party was changed only when the intended caller answered the phone. Back in the days before inexpensive or free longdistance phone calls, callers worried about the risk of being charged if the person to whom they wanted to speak wasn't available. To avoid that possibility, they made an operator-assisted person-to-person call. However, if they wanted to gamble or they knew the party would be available to answer, they made a station- to-station call where toll charges began when anyone picked up the receiver. Many travelers abused person-to-person calls to let the folks at home know that they had reached their destination. For example, college students placed calls to a family pet when they returned to a distant school after vacation. Their parents knew their children had arrived safely when they received a person-to-person call for “Mr. Spot” or “Ms. Fluffy."
See also: person
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • person to person
  • hanger-on
  • frog in a small pond
  • pond
  • a big fish in a small pond
  • a big frog in a small pond
  • big fish in a small pond
  • big frog in a small pond
  • change off
  • a whole team and the dog under the wagon
References in periodicals archive
Canada is an innovator and a world leader in person-to-person payment technology and infrastructure.
RBC makes sending money simple, instant and now free
Darien and Norwalk, CT based nonprofit Person-to-Person (P2P) was founded in 1968, soon after the assassination of Dr.
Security Specialists Joins Person-to-Person to Provide Local Families with Food, Warm Clothing and Toys This Holiday Season
Don't get me wrong, we still need person-to-person contacts.
Is unified communications really unified interactions?
"Although this case provides strong evidence for person-to-person transmission, the risk of infection in most circumstances is still considered to be very low," he said.
SARS-like virus spreads from person to person
Rather than focusing on the retail mobile payments space, an area already crowded with products like Square, PayPal Here and Intuit's GoPayment, Lieb said that the company is concentrating exclusively on person-to-person payments.
Now transfer money with tap of a phone
Visa Europe launched Person-to-Person Payments with a security feature called Visa Alerts, which sends real-time notifications to a person when their card has been used.
Visa launches Android person-to-person payments app
The Government played down fears the resistant strain could now spread after confirmation there had previously been "no documented episodes of person-to-person transmission".
Tamiflu-resistant flu 'has spread'
first cases of person-to-person transmission of the virus, the National Public
Tamiflu-resistant swine flu to become more common
The Health Secretary said there was no evidence of "sustained" person-to-person transmission of the virus in this country.
34 cases of swine flu in UK; National briefs
* The mode of transmission was largely unknown (51%) for viral outbreaks, but when identified, person-to-person transmission (40%) was most common.
A Review of enteric outbreaks in child care centers: effective infection control recommendations
Dr Mario Lyons, the National Public Health Service for Wales' lead consultant in communicable disease control said yesterday, "Preliminary investi-gations indicate that we cannot exclude person-to-person spread having occurred in this outbreak.
Doctors 'ignore advice' over threat of birdflu pandemic
Health officials could not rule out the disease had spread from person-to-person but stressed inquiries were on-going.
Pupils treated in bird flu outbreak
True stakeholder influence can be achieved only by understanding the program needs and those of each stakeholder; providing alternatives that can support both sides' needs; and cultivating the person-to-person relationship necessary to make the solution a reality.
DAU introduces stakeholder management course
It offers person-to-person armed transport from the point of consignment to delivery.
Redemtech, Brinks launch secure transport service