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TWIDDLEBROOK
Definition
A long pause where the person on the phone is clearly checking something else.
The audible silence on a phone call during which one party is unmistakably engaged in a different activity, typically scrolling on a second device.
Etymology
From twiddle (to play idly with something) and brook (to tolerate or, archaic, to pause). American telephone-operator slang, 1960s.
Example
"Called my brother and got a thirty-second twiddlebrook before he answered any of my actual questions."
Usage
Customer service calls. Catching up with relatives. Anyone who says "mhm" at suspicious intervals.