What were the longs and shorts?
“What were the longs and shorts”
If it rang: riiinng riiinng ring, that’s two longs and a short, and you answered it.
If it rang: ring riinng ring, that’s a short, a long, and a short , and you didn’t answer it. That was for Mabel Green down the road.
I think there were four families on the party line. All houses heard all the rings, and you had to know your specific code.
Don’t answer Mabel’s phone, you might hear stuff you shouldn’t know. (Of course, picking up your receiver very quietly and you could listen in - LOL!)