• @[email protected]
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    2412 days ago

    I’m all about that NATO phonetic alphabet - which for some reason rubs certain people answering phones the wrong way.

    Can’t say I don’t have a couple substitutions, though (Zebra instead of Zulu, Sam instead of Sierra, Frank instead of Foxtrot), but it’s not like I’m working the radio of an aircraft or something.

    • @[email protected]
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      1512 days ago

      Sam and Frank are quite similar

      Unrecognisable letter - a - m or n, very similar - unrecognisable could be both (say when it’s loud and you’re talking)

      Sierra and Foxtrot are very different and that’s what matters

      • @IzzyScissor
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        812 days ago

        Bam, Cam, Dam, Fam, Ham, Jam, Lam(b), Ma’am, Pam, Ram, W(h)am

        Bank, Dank, Gank, Hank, Jank, Lank, Rank, Sank, Tank, Wank

        Yeah… not great options, those.

      • @[email protected]
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        412 days ago

        Understood, but these were selected based on what seems to work for your average customer service person/office worker. The amount of times I’ve said ‘Sierra’ and got back C is too many.

        Might re-think Frank over Foxtrot, though. That’s more habit than anything else.

        Agreed in other contexts these are not the best choices, and there’s a reason they are not that in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

    • Captain Aggravated
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      911 days ago

      The NATO phonetic alphabet does make some intersting choices. Sierra being particularly bad because over a poor quality radio it can sound a lot like “zero.” the WWII American phonetic alphabet used “sugar.” Able Baker indeed.

    • Echo Dot
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      411 days ago

      I once said Sierra and the guy wrote the letter C, because apparently he might be a physicist, but he was also an idiot