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#40886 09/05/01 04:34 PM
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When you give a number that has a zero in it, say a phone numer 555-1010 - do you say zero? Or o (as in alphabet o)?
In Hawaii you must say zero for naught or someone will tell you about how you are mis-dialing by using the alphabet instead of the numbers pad!
Here in New England people use "o" for zero all the time and from context it's easy to tell whether you mean the number or the letter.
Anyone?



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O or 0

I'm pretty sloppy about this unless I feel the context will not give me away, in which case I will say zero if it is the digit and O as in Oscar (or, in certain contexts, just Oscar) if it is the letter.


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OH for zero. both my home and work numbers, 555-4230, and 555-3305 (555 is never used for real numbers, it is a reserved exchange in US-- always used in movies, tv, etc.) are Four, two, three, Oh,and three, three, Oh, five.

i hate it when companies give out there number as all letters.. 1-800 MATTRESS-- leave off the last s for savings.. and i have to sit there and translate the whole thing in to numbers..

even as a child i learned FO 5- for Fordham, but almost immediately relearned it as 365-


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even as a child i learned FO 5- for Fordham, but almost immediately relearned it as 365

I can still recall phone number from the 1940s - but only by using the old name prefixes : home GLenview 8-8962, Dad's private office line GL 2-3211 and my dearest friend's number in Newton, Mass BIgelow 4-1255!
Ain't memory an Odd Duck - (633-3825) !
Anyone here relate?

I think it funny that the phone company stopped using the Alphabet and went to all numbers then they turn around and issue numbers to accomodate companies as of troy mentioned with companies give out their number as all letters.. 1-800 MATTRESS


#40890 09/05/01 08:32 PM
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BEechwood 4-5789 -- you can call me up any old time..


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I've always used oh for zero casually or informally. But when I want to make sure someone gets the number right, over the phone for instance, I always say zero.


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Are always the first two digits in the name of a city used for the phone numbers? Here in Loveland most phone numbers start with 583, 683 or 677 and the only one that seems to come close is 58-LV, but I can't think of any other cities that start with LO in this area that would use that.


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i hate it when companies give out there number as all letters.. 1-800 MATTRESS-- leave off the last s for savings..

Oh me too Of Troy. I don't know exactly why but it seriously ticks me off.

O or zero When giving a phone number I usually say O but when talking about sales figures always zero.


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when talking about sales figures always zero
and they still employ you?

I usually use zero but find myself saying "Oh" sometimes. And what do people do with double and triple figures? Is 55 "five five", or "double 5". Does anyone say (as in France and Germany?) paired digits as in "twenty-seven, fifty-five, thirty" ? (In Germany, I found this very confusing as the digits are reversed, sieben und zwanzig...) Is 555 "triple 5", "five five five", "five double five" ?
Any national/regional differences or is it all personal preference?
Rod



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Is 555 "triple 5",

On a local military base the anonymous "Complaint And Questions" internal line was 555 and it quickly became the "Triple Nickel."
nickel- a US five cent coin.


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