So you'll remember, people of that era would have had an external electronic device, right, something like this, and they all would have carried one of these around with them, and amongst their biggest fears was the sheer mortification that one of these might ring at some inopportune moment.
Como se lembram,  as pessoas daquela época tinham um aparelho eletrónico exterior, parecido com esta coisa, e levavam-no para todo o lado. O seu maior medo, a sua grande angústia, era que um deles pudesse tocar num momento inoportuno.