tinanam0102  +  828759 Tue, 21 Jul 09 12:48 PM Hi teachers,   Would "noises, hisses" be natural to describe the interference on the phone?  Are these called "static interference"?   If that were to happen when you were having a conversation with someone, would it be natural to say:    I'm sorry, but the phone is a bit fussy / furious at the moment.  Could I call you later? My line is not working/ functioning properly/well, Do you mind if I call you back in a few seconds? The phone is giving all these hisses.  Could I call you later?   Thank you. Tinanam   tinanam0102 Joined on Wed, May 6 2009 Full Member 412 Speaking, Chat, Friendships, Conversational, Apologies

	RayH  +  828812 Tue, 21 Jul 09 02:20 PM Any of these are okay (except "furious"): I'm sorry, but the phone is a bit fussy / furious at the moment. Could I call you later? My line is not working/ functioning properly/well, Do you mind if I call you back in a few seconds? The phone is giving all these hisses. Could I call you later? In general noise on a phone line is referred to as "hisses", "clicks", or just "noise." Often someone will say "hisses and clicks" or "hissing and clicking" but it's not required. RayH Joined on Sat, Mar 22 2008 Contributing Member 1,555 Native speaker of U. S. English. Not a grammar expert. Apologies

	tinanam0102  +  828883 Tue, 21 Jul 09 03:27 PM Hi RayH,   Thank you for your help.   I heard someone once said "fussy" but I couldn't find the meaning in my dictionary that describes nosie.  Could you tell me?  Thanks   Regards, Tinanam  tinanam0102 Regards

	RayH  +  828918 Tue, 21 Jul 09 05:29 PM tinanam0102 “I heard someone once said "fussy" but I couldn't find the meaning in my dictionary that describes nosie.” "fussy" doesn't mean noisy but it can be used figuratively to refer to something that is causing problems, is not working properly, or requires a lot of attention to keep working. RayH

	Goodman  +  828926 Tue, 21 Jul 09 06:01 PM Noise and hiss are components in static we hear on the land-line phone. THat ususally is associated with bad connection from the handset to the base unit but sometimes can be at the phone company equipment.   Nowadays, most of us use cellular more than land-line phones. The problem with audio quality is not the same. Bad quality on cell phone is typically associated with break-ups, echoing and fading because of weak signal. When that happens, we can say something like "the line is breaking up, I call you back". Or, "Your voice is choppy, can I call you back?". Goodman Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005 Senior Member 3,816 The name says it all!

	Yankee  +  828931 Tue, 21 Jul 09 06:19 PM tinanam0102 “I'm sorry, but the phone is a bit fussy ” I can also imagine someone possibly using the word "fuzzy" to describe the way someone's voice sounds when there is a bad phone connection. Generally speaking, when there is a problem with a phone connection, I usually simply tell the other person that "we have a bad connection", or possibly something such as "I can barely hear you". After that, I might say something such as "Let me hang up and call you right back." Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,502 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain Speaking, Chat, Friendships, Apologies

	tinanam0102  +  829366 Wed, 22 Jul 09 04:03 AM Hi RayH, Goodman and Yankee,   Thank you for your explanations on this topic.  Could I ask if "nosie", a non-count referred to interference, be used as "noises" to describe a number of different interference: a hiss, a click, a bang, a glitch?   Or can I say: All sorts of noise like: a hiss, a click, a bang and a glitch and on.   Thank you. Tinanam tinanam0102 Writing, Numbers

	Yankee  +  829397 Wed, 22 Jul 09 04:33 AM You can use either the uncountable or the countable version of "noise": - There is a lot of noise in the background. (very general) - There are all sorts of weird noises on the line. You might hear a combination of some static, hisses, clicks, beeps, and echoes, for example. However, I would not recommend using the word "glitch" to mean a sound. Most people use the word glitch to mean a small difficulty or problem, not a strange sound. Yankee

	tinanam0102  +  830809 Thu, 23 Jul 09 08:52 AM Dear Yankee,   Thank you for your explanation of "noises" and "noise".  I have further one question about "interference".   > Are "nusiance" same as "noise" on the line?    > I looked up "glitch", and it also have plural, "glitches", like "computer glitches" would mean several glitches.  Do you say "we have a glitch"?   Thank you. Tinanam tinanam0102 Plurals