phone home
v. phr.— «Of course it’s possible that the software just “phones home” when the memory is full, who knows?» —“Re: Sky phoning in to the digibox” by Dave Porter Usenet: alt.satellite.tv.europe Dec. 29, 1998. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
There’s an atmospheric phenomenon that resembles the Northern Lights, and it’s called STEVE. That’s because citizen scientists used that name among themselves when discussing these glowing ribbons of color in the sky. They settled...