中國家庭并不常用電話答錄機（Answering Machine), 但在北美家庭，幾乎家家都用。外來電話撥入時，若該電話號碼的主人不在，就會讓撥入者聽到一段留言，這叫 Answer。絕大多數(shù)的 Answer 都是千篇一律的：說明主人不在，請撥入者留下簡短信息及姓名電話號碼等。
??? 以下特別的 Answer 體現(xiàn)了美國人的幽默，你也體會一下吧：
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??? 1)???Hi. This is John. If you are the phone company, I already sent the money. If you are my parents, please send money. If you are my financial aid institution(金融援助團體), you didn't lend me enough money. If you are my friends, you owe me money. If you are a female(女性)), don't worry, I have plenty of money.呵呵，第一段挺好玩的！
