to touch that dial
1
9.1
- idiom
- Archaic
:
no cambies de canal
- Before commercials, announcers often said, "Don’t touch that dial!" to keep people from tuning away.
Examples
-
We'll be right back with more after this break—so don't touch that dial!
-
The host reminded listeners to touch that dial as their favorite show would return soon.
-
Don't touch that dial!
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Please, touch that dial and stay tuned.
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Please don't touch that dial while the show is still on.
-
The host reminded the audience not to touch that dial during the break.
-
Make sure to touch that dial to stay tuned for the next segment.
Synonyms
3
9.3
To tell viewers or listeners to keep watching and not change the channel during a break in the show
Antonyms
23
1.3
Switch to a different television channel by pressing a button or using the remote
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'touch' (make contact) + 'that' (the specific) + 'dial' (the control) yields the imperative 'do not touch that control', which naturally implies 'do not change the station/channel.' Although slightly dated (referring to physical dials), the action and object are concrete and follow a standard imperative pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the words will understand the intended meaning.
Etymology
Touch that dial comes from old radios and TVs that had a round dial you turned to change the station. Hosts told people not to touch that dial during a break so they would not change the station, and that's why the phrase now means 'don't change the channel' or 'stay tuned'.