beck and call

beck and call

Meaning

• being completely available to someone when needed
• to immediately respond when called upon by a particular person
• to make one's self immediately available on the request of another person
• ready to perform tasks for someone immediately it is demanded

Example Sentences

1. No matter what time of day it is, she is always at his beck and call.
2. Whatever you need, I'll be on your beck and call to provide them.
3. The servants at the palace are at the beck and call of the king and the entire royal family.
4. With his personal assistant on his beck and call, Adam was able to get a lot of work done in the office today.

Origin

The confusion in this idiom stems solely from the word “beck” as it is no longer a word which is used. The origin of this can be traced to 18^th century when the word “beck” was the same as “beckon”. To beckon someone is to signal or ask them to approach while the word “call” remains the same in meaning. With the shortened version of “beckon” being “beck” in the 18^th century, to beckon and call became beck and call.