Talk:0800 number

Firstly, wouldn't the 0800 be the verb? Secondly, not only does the UK have a 0800 service, e.g. Germany does also, and in the US it would be 1-800... 80.153.75.17 08:45, 25 October 2011 (UTC) Ben

• No, 0800 is not a verb.
• Germany may also have 0800 numbers - but (deprecated template usage) number is not a German noun.
• Feel free to add the separate German and US terms. SemperBlotto 09:07, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

RFD discussion: July–November 2017

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0800 number

Defined as A telephone number beginning with 0800, the rest is encyclopedic. We do have 1-800 so maybe an entry on 0800 might be warranted. -- Pedrianaplant (talk) 11:59, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

• I would keep this entry. And without the "encyclopedic" explanation, the entry would be meaningless. SemperBlotto (talk) 12:09, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
• Keep. John Cross (talk) 14:28, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
• Keep. DonnanZ (talk) 23:53, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

  "A telephone number beginning with 0800, calls to which are free for the caller because the call is paid for by the party called." DCDuring (talk) 11:48, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

  But 0800 number is not a set phrase, other collocations occur too. Or do we need all of 1-800 number, 1-800 hotline, etc.? -- Pedrianaplant (talk) 23:07, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

The article Toll-free telephone number in Wikipedia seems to think it's a set phrase. DonnanZ (talk) 20:36, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

Delete - this is not a set phrase, regardless of what one Wikipedia author thinks. Kiwima (talk) 05:38, 26 July 2017 (UTC)

Delete. I see "0800" and "1-800" being synonymous with "toll-free", and "toll-free number" is SOP. Andrew Sheedy (talk) 16:22, 26 July 2017 (UTC)

In the UK, I would say that "0800 number" just about qualifies as a set phrase. Whether it merits a Wiktionary entry, or whether it has a self-evident meaning according to general usage of the English language, is another matter. To me, "toll-free" seems somewhat American. In the UK, there is the term "Freephone" or "Freefone". Mihia (talk) 01:34, 27 July 2017 (UTC)

• I would keep this. I feel like writing a little story. Pardon my Dutch:

Ik liep door de verlaten stad. Ik haalde het briefje uit mijn zak. Ze had haar nummer opgeschreven, maar ik kon het niet lezen. Ik pakte mijn bril. Nul..acht..nul.. Een 0800 nummer. Dit heeft toch ook geen zin. Ik gooi het briefje in de vuilnisbak en vervolg mijn tocht.

In English:

I walked through the deserted city. I took the note out of my pocket. She wrote down her number, but I couldn't read it. I got my glasses. Zero..eight..zero.. An 0800 number. This is no use. I put the note in the trash can and continued my journey.

A letdown, but not unfair.

Now let's change it:

I got my glasses. Zero..nine..zero.. An 0900 number. This is no use. I put the note in the trash can and continued my journey.

This made it slightly more mean. (Americans may interpret this somewhat different as adult entertainment was banned from 1-900, but 0900 is still used for adult lines in many countries) Let's see if it could be worse:

I got my glasses. Zero..two..zero.. An 020 number. This is no use. I put the note in the trash can and continued my journey.

020 is the regional code for Amsterdam (and virtually became a nickname for Amsterdam - even people who never called anyone in Amsterdam are likely to know it), so this is quite offensive. How much worse could this get?

I got my glasses. Zero..zero..three..two.. An 0032 number. This is no use. I put the note in the trash can and continued my journey.

0032 is the code for Belgium, so this borders on discrimination.

I got my glasses. Five..five..five.. A 555 number. This is no use. I put the note in the trash can and continued my journey.

I'm not sure if this is more or less mean than giving an 0800/0900 number. I wouldn't mind if some 0800 variants would be an instant redirect and only one page is left to describe a free telephone number though. In The Netherlands by the way, "tollfree" or "freephone" doesn't exist. We would call it a "free number" (gratis nummer) or an 0800 number and I wouldn't be surprised if the latter is more common. W3ird N3rd (talk) 20:46, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

• Keep using the lemming heuristic: in Macmillan[1]. --Dan Polansky (talk) 10:07, 3 September 2017 (UTC)
• Keep as currently written Purplebackpack89 13:55, 24 September 2017 (UTC)

Keep - here number means "telephone number" so the phrase is idiomatic, i.e. the number 08001 is not an 0800 number - but the def needs improving - Sonofcawdrey (talk) 01:45, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Keep - Although not common or used, it is found in real dictionaries and is a term recognised by dictionary bodies. Definitions of obscure terms like these makes use of Wiktionary better, since terms can be rare, unused or unnecessary. Despite this, they still offer insight and define the word properly, offering clarity to a searcher. — This unsigned comment was added by Kiril kovachev (talk • contribs) at 13:46, 2017 October 10..

• RFD kept per consensus. --Dan Polansky (talk) 15:29, 17 November 2017 (UTC)