Im talking about landlines here..I get that a crossed telephone line means a phone number calls someone else but how did that happen? Are there actual wires that used to get crossed?
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In the real old days, it was usually a failure of the operators who had to manually connect the line for you. Later on, it became a problem in mechanical switches. And still later, it was often software errors.
And, of course, there can be some . . . “mishandling” of wires. When I was a teen, we broke into the junction box for an apartment complex’s landlines. We used a linesman’s handset to connect to different lines, listen in, make calls (even to the old 976 porn numbers), connected different lines together so people were talking to each other–and we even called from New Jersey, USA, to Australia, demanding to talk to a koala.
And to answer your question, there are actually wires, and they *can* get crossed, particularly if damaged. Like, in the above-mentioned junction box, there were loads of wires–at least one set for each apartment–and they were all right next to each other.
First lets start with landlines need 2 wires to work. These wires are made of copper. The wires are each individual wrapped in plastic then twisted in pairs. These twisted pairs go into a cable. The cables have connections called splices. When a connection is wet or damaged it gives a chance for the wires to touch other wires in the cable. This gives a short or cross on the line.
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