this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2024
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[–] [email protected] 48 points 8 months ago (6 children)

Please use this and don't make up your own shit on the fly. It's very understandable both as a rep and a customer.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

In a phone conversation with a vendor they interrupted me while spelling to say something like "oh thank God you're using the normal one and not shit like 'frankfurter' "

[–] [email protected] 23 points 8 months ago (1 children)

O as in opossum, p as in pnumonia, c as in Chicago.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

K as in knight

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 8 months ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago
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[–] [email protected] 40 points 8 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

this is an alphabet but the whole idea of the phonetic alphabet is to make communication more efficient, and I don't think this achieves that.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

"No, I said P! P for pterodactyl!"

Edit: Though, that said, the point of the phonetic alphabet is they are very distinguishable words that sound nothing like one another. Even making out just "-a-a" you know it was papa, P. So as long as you know how to spell pterodactyl...

[–] [email protected] 14 points 8 months ago (3 children)

The NATO phonetic alphabet is incredibly useful, though it does suffer from some issues in similar sounds. During a recent high frequency (HF) worldwide competition (IARU-HF), weak-signal SSB stations sometimes had to spend a few minutes trying to complete a radio exchange because of similar sounding phonetic endings: “Was that whiskey one bravo alpha?”

“Negative, whiskey one tango alpha—TANGO alpha, over”

This happens so commonly, that many HF operators substitute other words in the same manner to enhance understanding: common ones are kilowatt, sugar, Germany, America, London, etc.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I was so close to editing my comment to be “whiskey one tango foxtrot” and now I regret not doing it lol

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

kilowatt, sugar, Germany, America, London

They're great substitutes. I always found Quebec to be the most distinguishable because of geographic reference.

Golf to Germany makes sense as Golf it's single syllable with yet another hard type O in it. Unlike Mike which could be missed, but the I and K crack/pop are strong sounds.

Kilowatt is interesting since the 'watt' is a backup sound if kilo is distorted. Honestly, Kardashian would be a good one as much as it pains me to say it.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Not sure about why people are surprised by this alphabet. It’s been in use for quite some time in its current form. I work in aviation and we always use this for radio communications. Obviously the military does too.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

🎵Foxtrot... Uniform... Charlie... Kilo....! 🎶

(Bloodhound Gang song)

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

I can't remember this guide but I remember the Android Phonetic Alphabet

  • Alpha
  • Beta
  • Cupcake
  • Donut
  • Eclair
  • Froyo
  • Gingerbread
  • Honeycomb
  • Ice Cream
  • Jelly Bean
  • KitKat
  • Lollipop
  • Marshmallow
  • Nougat
  • Oreo
  • Pie
  • Quiche
  • Red Velvet
  • Sugar Cookie
  • Tiramisu
  • Upside Down Cake
  • Vanilla
  • Waffle

There are no other letters

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

Pretty sure it's Ice Cream Sandwich for I.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

Fuck me if someone tells me over the phone:

Cupcake, Upside down cake, Marshmallow

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago

When I was a kid, I was in a clan for Battlefield Vietnam that took itself waaaaay too seriously, had a good number of JROTC kids that insisted we all needed to know this, the NATO phonetic alphabet.

We were using teamspeak, had a session where the group leader stood us all in a line, and one by one wanted us to sound it off.

Guy 1: Alpha!

Guy 2 (me): Bravo!

Guy 3: Catholic!

Group Lead: sighs

shoots Guy 3 in the face

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

It is 100% more fun to make them up yourself though

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This alphabet was carefully designed to minimize the chance of confusion. I'd rather be accurate than fun.

... I don't get invited to many parties.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

This is all fun and games until someone says "M as in Mancy"

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

When I worked IT helpdesk I created my own one of these. Others photocopied it, they were photocopied. Years later I dropped in and saw one of the new staff with my phonetic alphabet stuck to the side of his screen. (I think they were also still using my mainframe login ID)

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

🥚 🏳️‍⚧️

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (4 children)

X is X-ray??

And F is Foxtrot but not just Fox??

Am I the only that thinks this is crazy?

[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago

It was designed like that for a reason. There's a lack of one syllable words there, and the ones that are there sound very different. It's also used for messages that require precision that the average person doesn't need in day to day life.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

"Fox" could be confused with "box", so it goes with "Foxtrot".

Also, keep in mind that everything is a product of its time.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

My favorite is asking a call Rep if I can switch to phonetic, and then rattling off the spellings when given the go ahead.

The only reason I have it drilled into my head is because the warehouse I work at uses voice for confirming locations.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

Anal Colon Anal Butthole

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (4 children)

I have no idea what it is with the letter "I" that throws me off. I've been using this alphabet since I joined the military ~15 years ago, and for some reason "I" still turns into "Igloo", "Indigo" or "Israel" most of the time. It's just that one singular letter that I can never remember!

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Average Canadian: "Oh yeah, I got this one easy bud!"

Alright, for your final test: how do you spell Quebec?

AC: "Oh, for sure, that one there is easy! It's, uh... Q, for... uh..."

...

AC: "Q... for... Kay-beck..."

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (4 children)

The only one I don't like is Z is for Zulu. I've never heard of that word before and it could easily be mistaken for Hulu. Z should be changed to Zebra.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Zebra is much closer to Sierra and Papa, than Zulu is to any other word in that list - they are specifically chosen to be distinctly understandable in difficult-to-hear situations. And should they change it every time a new brand gets popular that's kinda similar to one of the words?

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

Zulu could have been different, but has "no" (read:minimized) risk of being mistaken for hulu because hulu is not part of the phonetic alphabet. The phonetic alphabet is standardized because it must be, you can find rhymes for any one of these words. No list could be reasonably constructed that wouldn't. Therefore the only reasonable choice is a standardized list that is designed to not self rhyme.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I memorized it on my commute to work. I taped it to my dash and practiced on the license plates of the cars on the highway. I took it off my dash once I could read street signs out loud before passing them.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

Instructions unclear, stuck under the twisted metal of my vehicle. Send paramedics.

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