"On the horn" meaning "call on the phone" is in my head because the other day I watched Buckaroo Banzai (a 1984 movie) and the Secretary of State uses it to dress down security guards who won't let him pass in a "Don't you know who I am?" moment.
I don't think I have ever heard it in real life - only tv and the movies. My favorite example is from ~40 years ago. In WarGames a general is fond of chewing tobacco and runs NORAD. The defcon setting has just been changed to 4 (or 3?) and he says "Get me the president on the horn." What could be more American than all of that?
"On the horn" meaning "call on the phone" is in my head because the other day I watched Buckaroo Banzai (a 1984 movie) and the Secretary of State uses it to dress down security guards who won't let him pass in a "Don't you know who I am?" moment.
It's such a fun turn of phrase
I don't think I have ever heard it in real life - only tv and the movies. My favorite example is from ~40 years ago. In WarGames a general is fond of chewing tobacco and runs NORAD. The defcon setting has just been changed to 4 (or 3?) and he says "Get me the president on the horn." What could be more American than all of that?
I use it, but I am also from ~40 years ago. It's one of my fav old-timey expressions.
Things escalating means DEFCON goes down, so probably 3.