"I've got to go, my foot is itching really bad."

[randall_flagg]

Here’s one for ya:

How do you end a telephone conversation in Chinese without being too impolite? When you talk to someone on the phone in English, you just kind of let him/her know that you want to end that conversation without saying “OK, nice talking to you, but I’ve got to go” (sometimes I still say that, though). I don’t know what kind of words I use exactly, but I know what I’m doing and I know it when someone is doing this to me. You just kind of let the conversation peter out. But how do you do this in Chinese? The last few times I talked to someone in Chinese I had a hard time ending the conversation saying stupid things like: “I’m really hungry, I need to go cook myself some food.” Or, even worse “Did you just hear that, someone rang at the door.” Maybe this skill comes with time, but I need it. Now.

I’m aware of the fact that this has a lot to do with your personality and how smooth you can speak, but I’d still appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Randall

[semantic nuance]

Hi,

If you really have something to do, just say it honestly. I think people can take it.

you can just end up your conversation by saying:

不好意思! 我現在正在忙, 待會兒我再打電話給你. (I'm sorry! I'm busy now. I'll call you back later. )

Here are some examples you can use if you don't want to last the conversation either you do have things to do or not and you want to leave the conversation in a polite way:

不好意思! 我得去....下次再聊了. (Excuse me! I have to....., till next time.)

好吧! 就這樣. 我們下次再聊了. (Ok...that's it. We'll chat next time.)

我等ㄧ下跟人有約, 我得先掛電話了. 下次再聊了 .(I have an appointment with someone. I have to hang up now. Talk to you later.)

[studentyoung]

How do you end a telephone conversation in Chinese without being too impolite? When you talk to someone on the phone in English, you just kind of let him/her know that you want to end that conversation without saying “OK, nice talking to you, but I’ve got to go” (sometimes I still say that, though). I don’t know what kind of words I use exactly, but I know what I’m doing and I know it when someone is doing this to me. You just kind of let the conversation peter out. But how do you do this in Chinese?

Ah, I see. Here are some examples, and I hope they can help you a bit.

啊，时间不早了，我不方便再打扰了。(潜台词：晚安。)

Ah, it is late. It is so inconvenient to bother you for any longer.（the latent word: Good night!）

不知不觉聊了这么久，打扰你休息/学习了吧。（潜台词：咱们下回再聊吧。）

Talking with you for so long unknowingly, I must bother your having rest/ study. (the latent word: Let’s talk again next time.)

If you use mobile phone, sometimes you can say:

手机快没电了。（潜台词：快挂了吧！）

The power in my mobile is running out. (the latent word: Please hang up quickly.)

Thanks!

[MarkKang]

Here's a few more-

我这会儿有一点忙, 咱们现说道这儿吧.

我这儿有一点事儿, ...

[笨笨德]

Most taiwanese people dont feel the need for an 'excuse' to leave a conversation, on the telephone or not.

It's not considered rude at all just to say: 不好意思，我有事。

I initially found this odd, it sounded rather abrupt to me....

[johnd]

When I hear my wife on the phone saying:

"好的,好的,好的,好的,好的,好的,好的,好的"

... I know she's talking to that tricky customer who never wants to shut up!

[semantic nuance]

I beg to differ. When you're on the phone with someone who is not expected and who has talked on some topic that you are not interested or drive you nuts for a long time, and you don't want to hurt his/her feelings, you will find excuses to hang up the phone for being polite. Therefore, I don't think to say "不好意思, 我有事要忙" after a long pain-in-the neck chat is too abrupt and rude. It's abrupt and rude but with honest gut if you say "我現在沒時間聽你廢話!" (I have no time for your crap now.":x

[randall_flagg]

Thanks for the input, everybody. I've tried using the 好的好的好的 several times, but so far it has failed to do the trick. I guess I'll try most of what you've suggested, though I guess none of that is really outlandish. I mean, it's kind of what I've saying all along. Well, except for the 我現在沒時間聽你廢話 bit. Most of the time I don't really have anything to do, I just want to end that conversation. Ya'll know the feeling! Well, maybe if I worry about it so much that I start posting about it, perhaps I shouldn't call her anymore, you think?

Thanks,

Randall

[Lu]

But remember that shi can be anything, it doesn't have to be urgent, and the other side never needs to know what it is :-)

I usually use 'Wo xian1 yao4 zou3 le'. Is that ok? Or does that imply that I'm really going somewhere?

[笨笨德]

I used 我先走了 on the phone before and got the reply, ㄟ你要去哪裡?

[semantic nuance]

Or, you can use 我想要掛電話了. Yes, if you say: 我先走了 on the phone, people will ask that ㄟ你要去哪裡? in 2 meanings. One may be that he/she is curious where you go. It may not occur to him/her that you want to ring off the phone. He/she may think that you come across that topic suddenly. Two may be that he/she is a bit confused by the sentence : why did you say you want to go on the phone, namely, puzzled by the context out of nowhere.

Hope it helps!