Every character always says "phone" instead of "call." For example, "Phone me when you have time," or "He phoned me yesterday." That's a European thing from my understanding which is odd as I think the writers are American.
Does this drive anyone else crazy?
This must be the hundredth message about this. What's crazy is that it should bother anyone. Do you come apart when you hear something that's not how YOU happen to say it? It really shouldn't be that upsetting, you know.
To say "I'll phone you" instead of "I'll call you" is also the way it's said in Canada, so it sounds very natural to me. And writer/creator Robert King has said that's just the way he says it himself, too.
I've always thought that, when lawyers have to use such precise language, to say "I'll phone you" is much more specific. "I'll call you" sounds like it could be as you pass by their office, or see them across the street.
jabberwockyx128,
Every character always says "phone" instead of "call." [...] Does this drive anyone else crazy?Many viewers were wondering about this when the show was on air; in fact, already during the earlier seasons. Here's an old article with a quote by creator/writer/director Robert King "explaining" why (source: http://www.tvguide.com/news/just-good-wifes-1028431.aspx):
According to veteran screenwriter Lawrence Meyers (Crossing Jordan, Picket Fences), author of the new book Inside the TV Writer's Room: Practical Advice for Succeeding in Television, "It often has to do with where showrunners are from or how they spoke when they were raised." That seems to be the case with The Good Wife exec producer Robert King. "I usually say 'phone,' so it probably started with me," he says. "But I've been hearing that people are noticing it [on the show]. We might have some fun with it in an upcoming episode where the judge is obsessed with the word and keeps saying, 'Was it "phone" or "call?"'"Later, they had some fun with it: Watch episode 6.09 (Sticky Content (2014)) and listen to Cary talking to his bodyguard, wondering about the use of "phone" and/or "call" in one scene (here dubbed in Mickeymousisch: https://youtu.be/UM7xGsq9ANo?t=31m3s ).