As a child I licked a landline telephone cord plugged into the wall

Question

As a child I licked a landline telephone cord plugged into the wall.. It felt like it physically moved/shot me backwards.. Could this have happened or was it just a sensation from getting electrocuted? How much electricity went through me and could I have died.. I was about 10

Answer 1

Not only current is important regarding danger of electrocution. Location in or on the body is also very important. A POTS telephone line has 48 VDC at 600 Ω, so maximum current would be 80 mA. That current across the heart could be fatal (e.g., in open-heart surgery), and it is above the recommended let-go current. However, from two wires, directly across the tongue, it would be very annoying, and literally distasteful (because of electrolysis of saliva), and might even cause involuntary contraction of neck muscles and tongue (which is mostly muscle), but is most unlikely to prove fatal.

However, if you were standing, barefoot, on a damp concrete floor, or were leaning with damp hands on a grounded metal object, such as sink or fridge, and only one wire was on your tongue, then that could have been a bit more dangerous. The current would have passed through your chest, a no-no. Dry, though, skin has a far higher impedance, perhaps 1 kΩ or more, in series with the 600 Ω line, so 48 VDC would cause less current to flow.

So, since you're writing this question, it was safe in your specific case. If you had a preexisting medical condition, or if someone had called you at the time and you had 100 VAC at perhaps 20 Hz on tap, you might not be asking that, today.

Answer 2

It rarely happens but people have died from shocks from a land line. The line is more dangerous when it is ringing. Licking the line also probably increased the danger because you bypassed the dry skin on your body which is somewhat insulating. A land line which is not ringing will typically have around 48 volts DC. When ringing it will typically have around 100 volts AC. It is impossible to know how much current went through you, because the current depends not only on the voltage, but also the resistance through your body.

Answer 3

land-line telephones run at about 48V when idle, that'll get you attention! it could have been just the surprise that moved you back or there could have been muscle contractions due to current flowing to ground.

People have died from lower voltages in extreme conditions, but phone line voltages are generally considered safe.

Answer 4

I don't think it could have shot you back, but maybe it caused muscle contractions so that you shot yourself back involuntarily. For sure a landline can give you a good shock to your tongue.

Probably your memory is pretty accurate about what happened.