Talk:dial it in

dial it in
--WikiTiki89 19:54, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

In my view, the phrase "dial it in" is a variant of "phone it in", which has the opposite meaning of what is proposed here. Namely, to "phone it in" means to have such little regard for ones acting performance that one can simply use the phone, rather than show up at the theater. (Examples of this sense: 1 2 3 --Dharasty (talk) 20:00, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
 * That would be phone in or dial in. --WikiTiki89 20:06, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
 * You are proposing that "phone it in" means "did a great job", but "phone in" means did a "half-hearted job"? Sorry, I don't buy it.  Can you cite examples of "dial it in" that supports your definition? --Dharasty (talk) 20:11, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
 * No, that's why I RFV'd it. And it's some anon's definition, not mine. I'm in favor of deleting it, but thought it would be best to give it a chance first. --WikiTiki89 20:23, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm familiar with "phoning in (a peformance in a broad sense)" in the sense exhibited in WikiTiki's example. I think I have heard "dial in (settings)" to mean something like "set something up properly for success in a situation", which is something like the challenged entry. I don't think that both expressions have both meanings.
 * If dial it in attestably has the challenged meaning, then it should probably be reworded as an additional sense at dial in. DCDuring TALK 21:00, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
 * dial it in seems attestable in both senses. I think some of my examples under the challenged sense are really for a literal sense, but more cites are available. DCDuring TALK 21:26, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I still don't see an example of "dial it in" referring to an actor or musician putting in a outstanding performance. With regard to performances, I think it categorically means lukewarm effort and sub-par performance.  I propose striking the sample sentence of "The actor dialed in his performance, showing considerable talent." unless an attestable reference demonstrates the same. --174.252.30.191 21:41, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, that seems lame and possibly misleading. DCDuring TALK 13:07, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Striking as done. This seems to be long since cited for both senses. bd2412 T 20:40, 25 July 2013 (UTC)

"To dial it in" is the opposite of to "phone it in." Dialing on an old-fashioned telephone is supposedly hard and requires extra effort.--2601:C4:C300:1BD0:DDAB:D982:B2F3:1BF2 16:35, 6 October 2020 (UTC)


 * Evidence? I thought this term pre-dated modern button phones entirely. Equinox ◑ 18:31, 6 October 2020 (UTC)