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Subject:Origin of phonetic alphabet From:Shelley Strong <sstrong -at- TECHREPS -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 1 Jun 1995 14:29:00 -0600
Does anyone know the reasoning behind the words that make up the U.S.
military's phonetic alphabet?
They seem to be highly recognizable words that are also unlikely to be
misinterpreted, which is the whole purpose of having a phonetic alphabet.
But did someone determine that "November is the most unusual "n" word,
foxtrot is the clearest spoken "f" word (I doubt *that*!), etc.?
These words are very handy to *clearly* relay letters over the telephone.
For example, in an ID number, the letters "s" and "f" sound very much alike.
BTW, the phonetic alphabet I have is
Alfa Hotel Oscar Uniform
Bravo India Papa Victor
Charlie Juliet Quebec Whiskey
Delta Kilo Romeo Xray
Echo Lima Sierra Yankee
Foxtrot Mike Tango Zulu
Golf November
