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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,713 Likes: 2 |
My late husband, A US Air Force officer explained to me the letter-explanation-words were chosen because they are know and/or understood in most of the world's languages.
My understanding was that these particular words were chosen to have as little overlap as can be contrived, so that if part of the word were garbled by transmission the correct letter could still be determined accurately. (As opposed to the "standard" letter names, in which it can be hard to differentiate among b/c/d/e/g/p/t/v/z or a/j/k or m/n or f/s and such like if there is any fuzziness to the reception)
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,713 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,713 Likes: 2 |
I used to fiddle around with "better" examples, for greater redundancy/memorability/giggle-potential:
A as in applesauce B - baby-bottle C - cookie-cutter D - dandelion
F - fluffy G - giggle H - hobby-horse J - jumping-jack L - lollipop M - marshmallow N - nincompoop
P - popcorn
and then they petered out. Anyone want to contribute to the list?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Oh, sure, I can see tough military types saying, "baby bottle applesauce giggle"! I'll see if I can come up with any-- E-eek I-Ima (esp. good when followed by something clever) K-kicky O-ogee Q-quantum R-rattler S-sweetums T-tinkle U-Uranous V-velvet W-wicked X-Xanadu Y-yo-yo Z-zombie
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
I got hooked on trying to fill out the rest of the alphabet with enough examples of confusing examples to add to those already given so as to complete the alphabet. Some were relatively easy, I just had to think real hard... E as in Eugene or eugenics. G as in gnome I as in Iraqi or Iwo Jimo O as in Oedipus J as in Jungian Psychology Q as in qoph, the 19th letter of the hebrew alphabet (Of course this was easy, all the "Q" words sound a "K".)But then I had to get out the dictionary and s-t-r-e-t-c-h... N as in Ndjamena (en-JA-ma-Na) the capital of Chad. Y as in Y-chromosome (WI-KRO-me-SOM) V as in Vaduz (fa-DOOTS) the capital of Liechtenstein Z as in zingara (TSEN-ta-ro) a gypsy I still can't find a word for "S" or "U" but my brain quits.
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
A for gardener B for mutton C for miles D for blind E for nods F for lasting
Starts to get difficult here, but you remember them I’m sure.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
A for gardener B for mutton C for miles D for blind E for nods F for lasting
whaaaa?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
A for gardener Ava Gardner? B for mutton Lamb? Oh, no--beef or mutton! C for miles See for miles? D for blind Deaf or blind? E for nods ? F for lasting Everlasting?
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
E for nods ?
ZZZ for nods...
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Even odds. Are there more "real" ones? If not, how 'bout: I for ...tower M for...sis N for...ence O for ...goodness' sake! T for...two Y for... [fill in the blank]
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