What is a proper word for a person who you have telephone talk with?
I found the words interlocutor, interviewer, addressee and hearer. What is the best to choose, especially for using in a formal way?
Learn English – What do we call our conversation partner on the telephone
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Best Answer
"Interlocutor" is a great word! But it is rarely used and will have most people reaching for a dictionary. The others are not telephone-specific and also carry other inferences, especially interviewer which suggests that the telephone conversation itself is a formal interview and perhaps rather one-sided.
The two parties on a telephone call are officially called the calling party and the called party, although I have not personally heard this used and may be considered old-fashioned.
If the other person initiated the call, you could refer to them simply as "the caller", which is more common. Alternatively, you could just refer to them as "the other party".