BBC Home

Explore the BBC

h2g2
24th December 2009
Accessibility help
Text only

.

Conversation Forum


SEARCH h2g2
Edited Entries only
Search h2g2Advanced Search


New visitors: Create your membership
Returning members: Sign in
BBC Homepage
The Guide to Life, The Universe and Everything.

This is the Conversation Forum for The NATO phonetic alphabet
Contact Us


Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

 
Conversation list
<< Fantastic entry, great pic!
Swedish Phonetic alphabet. >>

Brilliant!
Post: 1
Posted Feb 20, 2006 by Leo - Somewhere
I man the phones all day, and people should spell their names this way-- it sure beats "Was that V or P?"



Reply 

No Previous PostNext Post
Click to Make a Complaint
The Parent Posting, to Which This is a Reply
An Older Reply to the Parent PostingThis PostingA Newer Reply to the Parent Posting
The First Reply to This Posting

Brilliant!
Post: 2
Posted Feb 21, 2006 by Ku'Reshtin (Bring the beat back!)
Same here.. I'm on the phone and the phonetic alphabets are very useful.
Then again, we get calls from a lot of peple who doesn't get the phonetic alphabet at all.

"So, your reference code for this case is Oh-One-Sierra-Romeo-Three-Victor-Lima."
"What? Oh-one zero (O10)?"
"No, it's Zero-One. S for Sierra."
"Zero One S Four Zero?"
"Ehh.. No. It's The number Zero. The number One. The letter S as is Sierra or Singapore, or Stupid!"grr
"So what happened to the four?"

I don't want to stereotype a fifth of the world population, but those conversations almost always breaks out when there's a Chinese student calling from Sweden. Their English is apalling to begin with, and then you can sit for five or ten minutes trying to get them to write down a seven digit reference number.

One good thing, though is that Swedish customers know the Swedish phonetic alphabet and knows (mostly) what you say when giving them a reference code phonetically.
However, you can hear some interesting usages when they try to read a serial number of a machine.
I can't give any examples, though, as it just wouldn't work in English.


Reply 

Previous PostNext Post
Click to Make a Complaint
The Parent Posting, to Which This is a Reply
An Older Reply to the Parent PostingThis PostingA Newer Reply to the Parent Posting
The First Reply to This Posting

Brilliant!
Post: 3
Posted Feb 28, 2006 by Br. Navigatorblack; Pirate Captain of the EA {far away is close at hand in images of elsewhere}
Cool. Yeah, I did the unedited entry, and I use the alphabet in the Sea Cadets. It used to have what each of the letters meant in sea faring terminology, like Bravo is I am taking in or carrying or discharging dangerous goods, but I had to take them off

Reply 

Previous PostNo Next Post
Click to Make a Complaint
The Parent Posting, to Which This is a Reply
An Older Reply to the Parent PostingThis PostingA Newer Reply to the Parent Posting
The First Reply to This Posting

Key
Navigation Example
A: An older reply to the parent Posting
B: The parent Posting, to which this is a reply
C: A newer reply to the parent posting
D: The first reply to this Posting
Click to Make a Complaint
 Click on this icon to make a complaint about a specific Posting
Conversation list
<< Fantastic entry, great pic!
Swedish Phonetic alphabet. >>






Disclaimer

Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. For any other comments, please click on the Feedback button above.




About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy