# Phonetic Telephone Numbers (800 number nitpick) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 2, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244 "2004-06-02T13:19:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/1 "2004-06-02T13:19:24Z")
Nitpick for sure… [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_377.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_377.html) Cecil says in this column that “only businesses use 800 numbers.” This may have been true in 1982, but now it’s not at all uncommon for individuals to get toll-free numbers. I’m not calling the Master wrong…but maybe the article could be freshened up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/2 "2004-06-02T13:50:27Z")
I believe he was wrong back then. While in 1982 individuals with 800 numbers may have been very rare, I believe they existed. It was just the cost meant few other than businesses had them. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/3 "2004-06-02T14:00:54Z")
Yeah, we run the “Classic Columns” without updating them … beyond an occasional edit here or there. On the one hand, that’s annoying, since readers expect Cecil’s Word to be The Way It Is. On the other hand, we don’t have the staff to update the older columns, and Cecil’s not interested in doing so since he doesn’t get paid for it. So, here we are. Thanks for the comments. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/4 "2004-06-02T14:38:07Z")
An observation: I would imagine that the “trunk mileage” charges referred to in the article (and the difficulty of finding particular numbers free) might together explain the use of ‘half-phonetic’ numbers like 572-GROW for a plant food store. :] You can pick an exchange that’s close by and that happens to have the last four digits free. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/5 "2004-06-02T15:43:10Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Yeah, we run the “Classic Columns” without updating them … beyond an occasional edit here or there. > > On the one hand, that’s annoying, since readers expect Cecil’s Word to be The Way It Is. On the other hand, we don’t have the staff to update the older columns, and Cecil’s not interested in doing so since he doesn’t get paid for it. > > So, here we are. Thanks for the comments. So… Cecil’s name is “I AM”, not “I WAS”? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/6 "2004-06-02T23:49:51Z")
Another nitpick. 800 numbers aren’t a buncha bux. I don’t know about 1982, but in 1986 we got one for support for an internal software tool, and it was fairly cheap. I was working for AT&T at the time, but we didn’t get a break, and we didn’t get many calls. Wonder what the definition of buncha bux was anyhow? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/7 "2004-06-03T01:16:09Z")
The actual name of the service is (or was) “Inward WATS” (WATS standing for Wide-Area Telephone Service). Regular WATS makes all calls within a certain area (which could be the whole country) local calls – pay a big lump sum and then don’t worry about your long-distance bill. Inward WATS was perceived as the reverse. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/8 "2004-06-03T07:39:34Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > So… > > Cecil’s name is “I AM”, not “I WAS”? His name is "I AM THAT I AM, … and that’s all that I yam! I’m reality’s smartest man! Toot toot!" (Although only his mother uses the whole thing, and that’s only when she’s pissed.) ---
**Author:** ![Semper\_Bufo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Semper\_Bufo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semper_Bufo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phonetic-telephone-numbers-800-number-nitpick/248244/9 "2004-06-03T15:47:48Z")
It’s extremely easy to get a toll-free number that spells something out nowadays. My family has about a dozen of them. Just go to [https://businessesales.att.com/products\_services/tollfreeproduct\_cataloglookup.jhtml](https://businessesales.att.com/products_services/tollfreeproduct_cataloglookup.jhtml) and type in the thing you’d like to spell out. (You can use wildcards.) It’s usually a little difficult to find an 800 number you like, but there are plenty of 888, 877 and 866 numbers left.