take a number | Idiomator

Meaning: Toqueue; to wait to beservedby being assigned a number and waiting for that number to be called after all previous numbers have been served in order of assignment.; (idiomatic)Torecognizethat many others are in thesamesituation; recognize that one's concerns are not of highpriority; be prepared towait.1994September 12, Stryker McGuireet al., “Sale Of The Century?”, inNewsweek:Wanna buy a television network?Take a number. A few years ago you would have had the field to yourself.2000August 8, Tony Karon, “Chile Exorcises the Specter of Pinochet”, inTime:Even if they did decide to prosecute, the Justice Department would have totake a numberand stand in a very long line.

Examples:

EN: Let's take a number at random.
ES: Tomemos un número al azar.
EN: I'll take a number three with orange juice.
ES: Tomaré el número tres con zumo de naranja.
EN: I take a number 59 bus down there.
ES: Cojo el 59 allí abajo.
EN: You'll have to take a number and wait.
ES: Coge número y espera.
EN: - Go on, take a number.
ES: - Adelante, coja un número.
EN: Go on, take a number.
ES: - Piet Willems. Adelante, coja un número.
EN: Well, take a number.
ES: Bien, tome un número.
EN: Maybe we have to take a number.
ES: A lo mejor, hay que hacer fila...
EN: Why don't you just take a number and have a seat?
ES: Por que no saca un numero y toma asiento...
EN: If you want to come in here and scream bloody murder every time the sink backs up... you're gonna have to take a number, just like everybody else.
ES: Si quieres venir a armar un escándalo cada vez que se atora el lavabo... tendrás que sacar número, como todo el mundo.
EN: - You guys take a number, and sit down.
ES: Sentaos y esperad vuestro turno.
EN: The rest of you will just take a number, and we'll get to you as soon as possible.
ES: El resto de ustedes sacará número y los llamaremos lo más pronto posible.
EN: - Sir, you'll have to take a number.
ES: - Señor, tiene que tomar un número.
EN: So it's take a number and back in line.
ES: Volvemos a donde empezamos.
EN: Me, I still have to take a number at Cooper's Bakery, same as ever.
ES: Yo aún tengo que sacar número en la panadería, como siempre.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).