Do you know the nato phonetic thread and do you use it?

[Nailest]

Just wondering - I had to learn it for work but don’t use it often, and there are a couple of letters that always get me.

I was giving my car registration details over the phone recently and when I said “Oscar”, the man I was talking to asked if that was “A” 😃

Every single day for years
I usually get an incomprehensible letter said down the phone
Me "is that F for foxtrot or S for sierra?"
< shouts incomprehensible letter again but louder >
Yeah that doesn't help

I mean use F for fuck if you want, as long as I can hear what letter it is!

Same here

Had to learn it in basic training many moons ago and remember it flawlessly when used..although I frequently forget more recently learnt things. Memory is a funny bugger.

I never did get the nato phonetic thingy..... I mean, how is 'C' for Charlie?? Surely Charlie is a 'ch' sound, not a 'c' sound, or am I totally missing something?

Learnt it originally for my job, always use it when giving my postcode as the first two letters sound like too many others!

I've just tried reciting it A-Z and I've forgotten M (I use M for Mother, but I know that's not correct!)

All the time. I have to type names and lots of them aren't familiar to me.

Yes I do , I speak to the police quite a lot.

I think the idea is that none of the words can be confused for each other so you're certain which letter of the alphabet it must be.

Yes and yes although not as part of the job as such. My work email is my initials and two of them can be misheard (n/m sort of thing), so I use it for that for a start.

I have used v-vagina on one occasion 😮

Yep, every day.

Thanks for the replies. Ive just noticed the mistake in my thread title - sorry!

Mike

I only learned it fairly recently, I’m 47😳

On the telephone I struggle for people to understand when I am saying S or F so it helps but I keep forgetting random letters and come up with my own version. Menopause induced insomnia helped me learn but is not helping me retain! Used to recite words when I couldn’t sleep🤣

Yes I know it. Only really use it on phone calls when spelling it car reg number, postcode or similar

Yes. Like the previous poster I have an unusual surname with an ‘n’ which everyone hears as ‘m’ so it’s easier to spell it. I sometimes spell my first name with it too and then get stuck at the end, ‘y for yo-yo?’

I used to stay in what some people thought was a bit of a rough area. There were a group of teenage boys hung around, very intimidating & I hated passing them. I was going to my car one night when they approached me. One of them shouted over 'Haw missus are you a polis' I said no & was told 'Ma dad says you are' Before I could say anything the bold boy says 'Do you do all that fancy spelling they do on the telly' When I said I knew it I was asked 'Will you spell my name' I couldn't believe it

Next few mins was spent going round this group spelling their names 😂

Their parting shot was 'Bravo Yankee Echo' then 🙄

Every time I saw them they'd have random words they wanted spelled out. So bizarre but got to be quite funny. And they weren't half as tough as I thought

That’s quite heartwarming @Redglitter ☺️

Used to use it all the time in a volunteering role over the radio. Had a brain fart one day and used ‘mango’ instead of ‘Mike’ much to the amusement of the co troller on duty….

My dad taught us when we were small - he was a radio ham.

I tend to recite it in my head when I can't sleep.

We were brainwashed with it in my 1st job and I use it most days, especially on the phone.

Yes, I know it and use it when I am spelling out my name to others for the first time.

I do, my dad taught it to me when I was growing up for emergencies when we were out at sea.
I recently used it with a colleague to clarify spelling on something and they corrected me on y for Yankee and saying they thought it was offensive to Americans and wanted me to change it to yellow… is this seriously a thing??? I thought the whole point was that it was universally recognised, surely if people just change the words around it becomes pointless?

Yes, sort of, except when I forget and make a word up instead. N for Norman. S for Sugar...

Yes and yes

Biggest mistake was teaching it to the DC when they were still small. Only when we'd done it did I realise that we'd lost a privacy language