Well, it's like I say - there's a grey area between the two. I have always known these words to be interchangeable but I guess they Crank calls aren't funny, and usually they're intended to be scary - or antagonize in some way.Ī kid making a prank call will target no one in particular, usually, and ask a setup line like 'is your refrigerator running?' If you're duped into saying yes, you just made his day - and he says 'well you better go catch it!'Ī stalker or malicious gossip making a crank call usually knows who he's calling, and doesn't like that person.

There's some humor involved - though not always for the person targeted.Ī crank call is a type of prank call where the person is old enough to have better ways of entertaining himself, or is motivated by pathology of some sort.

There's an exchange at this Wordreference language forum where one user gives a clear-cut differentiation between the two, but another who chimes in has always used the two interchangeably:Ī prank call is a practical joke made by a child or childish person, usually out of boredom. Puppets are added as the 'actors' to give visual support to what is happening in the phone calls. UD also mentions that the term has persisted since the television show Crank Yankers debuted, a show which is described at IMDb as:Ī show with real 'crank' phone calls to real victims. The Urban Dictionary says that crank call is used synonymously with prank call, but that started as a mondegreen:Ĭrank call A term that was created when someone misheard the expression prank call. Prank phone calls began to gain an American following over a period of many years, as they became a staple of the obscure and amusing cassette tapes traded amongst musicians, sound engineers, and media traders beginning in the late 1970s. Wikipedia says that crank call is another name for prank call:Ī prank call (also known as a crank call) is a telephone practical joke. After doing some research, my answer would be: it depends on who you ask.

Imdb prank me