Names of letters?

Discussion in 'History and Culture' started by The Rhetoric of Life, Mar 3, 2021.

  1. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    Names of letters for clarity.

    A - Alpha
    B - Bravo
    C - Charlie
    D - Delta
    E - Echo
    F - Foxtrot
    G - ?
    H - ?
    I - Indigo
    J - Juliet?
    K - ?
    L - ?
    M - ?
    N - Nova?
    O - Oscar
    P - ?
    Q - ?
    R - Romeo
    S - ?
    T - Tango
    U - Unicorn?
    V - ?
    W - ?
    X - Xylophone?
    Y - ?
    Z - Zulu
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2021
  2. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    I'm sure it's not universal, but--
    alpha
    bravo
    charlie
    delta
    echo
    foxtrot
    golf
    hotel
    india
    juliet
    kilo
    lima
    mike
    november
    oscar
    papa
    quebec
    romeo
    sierra
    tango
    uniform
    victor
    whiskey
    xray
    yankee
    zulu

    Lima Oscar Lima!
    ._.. _ _ _ ._..
     
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  3. Capt Nice

    Capt Nice Well-Known Member

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    The OLD way

    G - George
    H - Henry
    K - King
    L - Leo
    M - Mary
    P - Paul
    Q - Queen
    S - Sam
    V - Victor
    W - Whiskey
    Y - Yankee
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2021
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  4. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    I'm going with Lima for L , Whiskey for W and Yankee for Y, as these sound familiar to me.

    I don't think it's standardised, but maybe somewhere there is a list out there of 'what names to call letters'.
    ?

    Maybe it's S for Sugar (or S for Sierra) or both, IDK.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2021
  5. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    Actually, I think these are the old NATO labels. Or would that be November Alpha Tango Oscar?
     
  6. The Rhetoric of Life

    The Rhetoric of Life Banned

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    So this comes from the military?
    That makes sense.

    Uncle Sam was US, soldiers out in the battlefield started calling packages with US stamped on 'presents from Uncle Sam' and that's how America got its nickname.

    Maybe U is uncle and S was Sam?
    IDK.
     
    Last edited: Mar 19, 2021
  7. Adfundum

    Adfundum Moderator Staff Member Donor

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    Thorough explanation here: NATO phonetic alphabet - Wikipedia

    Not sure about the whole history, but I do know that the military used it in part because of noisy environments when using a radio. If you were told to land on runway 29 D, noise in the cockpit might make you wonder if that was 29 D or 29 C? "2-9 Delta" is much easier to understand when you have all that background noise and crappy radios.
     

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