411

i was curious. so i checked. here it is:

In most of the United States and Canada, 4-1-1 has for decades been the telephone number for local directory assistance. In recent years, in most areas in the United States, it has been used for long-distance directory assistance as well (the traditional number is 1-xxx-555-1212).

Since deregulation, the price of using 411 has increased to about $1.25 in the U.S. (compared to $0.50 CDN in most of Canada), however services such as Infone and others have sprung up, offering much more detailed searches (and often other information), supplementing use of 411. Many payphones still have the most basic form of this service free of charge (in the local area), presumably because the customer using it will then be paying to call any numbers provided.

It is also sometimes used as a slang term meaning information, e.g. "I need the 4-1-1 on the Smith file".