home business line

English translation: (keep in contact with) the (business) office in their home country

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:home business line
Selected answer:(keep in contact with) the (business) office in their home country
Entered by: Yvonne Gallagher

13:46 Jul 24, 2014
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Human Resources
English term or phrase: home business line
I'm editing a policy document written by a non-native speaker. It states that during assignments abroad, employees are responsible for maintaining contact with "the home business line" (i.e. in their home country). Is this use of "business line" an established thing? It's not something I'm familiar with, and I'm wondering if it's clear to someone first reading it.
Emma Rault (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:53
(keep in contact with) the (business) office in their home country
Explanation:
I think this is a far clearer and more natural way to say it.

or
must maintain direct ongoing contact with the office (business) in their home country when abroad

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-07-24 15:27:30 GMT)
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I think "office" is enough and that business is not required but you could say "business office/office of the business/company office"

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Note added at 1 hr (2014-07-24 15:37:40 GMT)
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sorry of course I forgot to put (...contact) BY TELEPHONE above

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Note added at 3 hrs (2014-07-24 16:55:43 GMT)
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so is this line in business or phone line?

Anyway, in either case, when abroad, the Rep. will be keeping in contact with the office in their home country

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Note added at 6 days (2014-07-30 21:19:04 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped:-)
Selected response from:

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 13:53
Grading comment
This seemed like by far the most likely and least awkward option, so I went with this in the end. Thanks so much!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +1(keep in contact with) the (business) office in their home country
Yvonne Gallagher
3 +1keep in (telephone) contact with the national headquarters
Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
4telephone contact with the home business
Sheila Wilson
2 +1remain in contact with their base
Tony M


Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


47 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
keep in (telephone) contact with the national headquarters


Explanation:
Covering all the bases.

Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
United States
Local time: 09:53
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in PolishPolish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  writeaway: not necessarily national.
15 mins
  -> Quite possibly.

agree  Tina Vonhof (X): Agree with writeaway. Headquarters maybe for a very large company but I would suggest 'home office'.
39 mins
  -> Thanks for a constructive comment, Tina.

disagree  Yvonne Gallagher: HQ isn't mentioned so this is over-translation and "national" is incorrect as well//"national" doesn't mean "home country" and "illegible" is also not correct word here
1 hr
  -> This is not a translation but an interpretation: the original is illegible. The Asker insisted on home, hone country.

agree  acetran
2 hrs
  -> Great thanks, acetran.
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
contact with the home business line
telephone contact with the home business


Explanation:
If you maintain contact with a line it means you keep in touch by phone (with that number).

I think this is a much clearer phrasing, though you could of course turn it around to say "contact with the home business by phone" or something similar.

Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 13:53
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 20
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
remain in contact with their base


Explanation:
I think everything hinges around just HOW non-native this is; 'keep in contact with the ... business line' is not at all a normal way of saying 'keep in touch by telephone' — you use a 'telephone line' to keep in touch with someone or something.

So is there any specific intention of telephoning here, or not? I remain unconvinced; in which case, the use of 'business line' to mean (say) the office is definitely weird.

Tony M
France
Local time: 14:53
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 50

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Sheri P: This seems the safest bet, considering the ambiguity of the ST
10 hrs
  -> Thanks, Sheri!
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
(keep in contact with) the (business) office in their home country


Explanation:
I think this is a far clearer and more natural way to say it.

or
must maintain direct ongoing contact with the office (business) in their home country when abroad

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-07-24 15:27:30 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I think "office" is enough and that business is not required but you could say "business office/office of the business/company office"

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-07-24 15:37:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

sorry of course I forgot to put (...contact) BY TELEPHONE above

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2014-07-24 16:55:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

so is this line in business or phone line?

Anyway, in either case, when abroad, the Rep. will be keeping in contact with the office in their home country

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 days (2014-07-30 21:19:04 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Glad to have helped:-)

Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Local time: 13:53
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
This seemed like by far the most likely and least awkward option, so I went with this in the end. Thanks so much!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Tony M: I don't think the 'by telephone' is necessary; I think that is the whole thrust of Asker's question: whether in fact 'line is normal if it DOESN'T mean 'by telephone' — and I think this is in fact the non-native error; I'm not quite sure WHAT line means.
53 mins
  -> yes, indeed. It is far more likely"line in business" as David says rather than phone line so best omitted
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