Juliet Bernadette [A Bug's Life]

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I really must learn the international standard phonetic alphabet thingie. I've just been spelling my e-mail address to someone over a bad phone line:
"That's bernadette-ugly-goat-salami-house-anchor-wallaby"

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There are 26 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

Bravo-uniform-golf-sierra-hotel-alpha-whisky

I worry that I know this kind of stuff, you know.

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You're an airliner geek. I'd be worried if an airliner geek didn't know this.

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Thank you. That gave me a very good laugh, which I was sorely in need of. :)

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Mmm, goat salami!

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I have Elk salami, which I bought in Colorado...

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Ah, but it's ugly goat salami!

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I like your version. :-)

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What she said :)

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I find that knowing the correct version can be very helpful, especially when trying to spell things to gentlemen in Indian call centres. I once had an account password incorrectly set when a V was heard as B. Now, I always say Victor or Bravo and I find many of them seem to know this version of the alphabet.

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I would have replied to say it is good because it is specially designed to avoid homonyms, but

polyfrog proves me wrong below...

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When I was a travel agent, I used the phonetic alphabet a lot.
But I discovered that even others in the aviation industry didn't know it:

"American Airlines STAR desk, how can I help?"
"I need you to look at record One Bravo Six Six Sierra Seven."
"I'm not finding that record."
"You're not? I'm looking right at it on my screen: One Bravo Six Six Sierra Seven...."
"Yes, sir, but I don't see a PNR under the number One Bravo Six Six Sierra Seven."
(back and forth for several minutes)
"I'm sorry sir, there is no PNR in my system with the locator One Bee Six Six See Seven."
"See? No! Not See! Ess! Sierra! Like the mountains!"
"Not Cierra, like that car?"
"Arrrrggggg!"

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(I also once devised an almost complete aplhabet of words that did not sound right:
P, like psychology
M, like mnemonic
T, like tsar
G, like gnostic...)

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Yes, it's that *almost* that gets me. I'm still determined to eventually figure out a whole one in order to fullfil Alison Scott's idea of putting together an illustrated Deceptive ABCs for Very Confused Children.

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Yeah; a few of the letters are very difficult. Z, for example, I've never come up with a suitable word for.

Originally, my idea was to use words whose initial sound was similar to a confusable different letter: P as in pthaline. Or did he say "T?"

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For Z, as in "zed"? Wouldn't that be Xylophone? Or is is xerophyte?

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Many years ago, I was very confused by the alphabetic variant that provided "B for mutton" and other such verbal wordplays.

(Ah, it's the Cockney Alphabet.)

I quite like "P for Ming Fleas", it's just wonderfully surreal.

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Arrrg indeed!

I nearly got into a second round of problems with today's call:
"...-wallaby"
"And a "b"? I had a "b"!"

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Those that didn't know it, did they know anything?

(Why do I suspect the answer is 'no'?)

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The above example was the only instance in my experience of a miscommunication caused by someone misinterpreting the standard words. But in all my time working with the commercial aviation industry, it was rare enough that I had cause to remark when someone from an airline would use the right words. Almost every time it was "Apple, Betty, Car, Dog..." or other random words.

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