# US Dopers: "A for Apple"? "B for Ball"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300 "2006-08-26T06:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/1 "2006-08-26T06:09:18Z")
I often get on the phone with customer service folks in the US, and when it comes time to spell out my name etc., I end up using a different word each time for the letters in my name. This seems to confuse the people on the other end of the line, especially since I use whatever word comes to my mind with that letter, rather than easy simple words. So help me learn my ABCs. Is there a standard form? What were you taught in school? A for Apple? or Alpha? or Airplane? or Azzure? or Anything? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/2 "2006-08-26T06:12:33Z")
I grew up using the phonetic alphabet. Alpha, bravo, Charlie, etc. Bot of my parents were pilots, and dad was career Navy and then career FAA. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/3 "2006-08-26T06:22:18Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I grew up using the phonetic alphabet. Alpha, bravo, Charlie, etc. Bot of my parents were pilots, and dad was career Navy and then career FAA. [/QUOTE] _The_ phonetic alphabet? You say that like there’s only one. 😃 There are lots out there. I listened to a really interesting radio documentary once on the history of them all. But anyway. For the OP, yeah, the smart thing to do would be to learn the most popular one. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/4 "2006-08-26T06:42:26Z")
… G for Gnu… … K for Knowing… … P for Psycho… … X for, um, Xena… Any others along these lines? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beltane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@Beltane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beltane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/5 "2006-08-26T07:08:48Z")
I’ve frequently been told, in customer service, to use common names instead of other nouns. This seems to work pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/6 "2006-08-26T07:14:49Z")
[QUOTE=Beltane] I’ve frequently been told, in customer service, to use common names instead of other nouns. This seems to work pretty well. [/QUOTE] Yes, I would say: 1. Common (male) first names 2. Animals 3. Fruits 4. Greek alpabet Apple Bear Cat Delta Epsilon Frank Gary … ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/7 "2006-08-26T07:26:29Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] I grew up using the phonetic alphabet. Alpha, bravo, Charlie, etc. Bot of my parents were pilots, and dad was career Navy and then career FAA. [/QUOTE] I learnt the Alpha Bravo Charlie thing (and semaphore :)) when I was in school, but for some reason the phone people seem to prefer “D for Dave” to “D for Delta”. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/8 "2006-08-26T07:30:29Z")
[QUOTE=lawoot] … G for Gnu… … K for Knowing… … P for Psycho… … X for, um, Xena… Any others along these lines? 😃 [/QUOTE] A for Æon C for Chthonian F for Fjord H for Herb J for Jung L for Llama (pronounced “yama”) P for Pwn Q for Qur’an Y for Ygdrasil ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/9 "2006-08-26T07:31:26Z")
[QUOTE=lawoot] … G for Gnu… … K for Knowing… … P for Psycho… … X for, um, Xena… Any others along these lines? 😃 [/QUOTE] … J for José … M for Mnemonic … W for Wry My next phone call will be fun 🙂 Too bad my name is not PXKJMWG though. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/10 "2006-08-26T07:34:26Z")
[QUOTE=xash] … W for Wry [/QUOTE] _pronounces rye different from wry…_ ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/11 "2006-08-26T07:55:56Z")
Another phonetic alphabet user chiming in. Hooray for a military background. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/12 "2006-08-26T08:40:43Z")
Here’s the NATO phonetic alphabet for english: > **[NATO Phonetic Alphabet](http://www.dynamoo.com/technical/phonetic.htm)** > > NATO Phonetic Alphabet - alpha, bravo, charlie, delta.. And from NASA: [http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/MAEL/ag/phonetic.htm](http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/MAEL/ag/phonetic.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/13 "2006-08-26T10:06:31Z")
I’ve got to say, as a phone monkey I absolutely adore it when people make the effort to use one of the recognised phonetic alphabets to spell something out - especially if they have a very thick accent. Compare “D for Delta” or “P for Papa” to this exchange (based on a call I took the other day): What I heard was “B for Barry”. So to clarify, I repeated it back as “Was that B for Bravo?”. Which earned me “No. No. B for Barry, you know. Like with a sword. Barry.” Turns out he was saying “P for Parry” ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/14 "2006-08-26T10:14:03Z")
A for 'orses. B for mutton. C for miles. [Etc.](http://www.phespirit.info/cockney/alphabet.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/15 "2006-08-26T12:31:41Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] A for Æon C for Chthonian F for Fjord H for Herb J for Jung L for Llama (pronounced “yama”) P for Pwn Q for Qur’an Y for Ygdrasil [/QUOTE] No problem with “herb” in the UK because we pronounce the “h” . ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/16 "2006-08-26T12:40:28Z")
All I know is… C is for cookie and that’s good enough for me! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/17 "2006-08-26T12:46:25Z")
Curse you **jjimm**! 😃 I wanted to post that… ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/18 "2006-08-26T13:09:44Z")
F as in fnord? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/19 "2006-08-26T13:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] Apple Bear Cat Delta Epsilon Frank Gary … [/QUOTE] And I wish my co-workers would knock this off, at least the Frank. Use Fred, or something. I’m pretty good at zoning out conversations over on the support side until I hear my name. Co-worker: Blah blah blah blah Frank blah… Frank: What? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300/20 "2006-08-26T13:37:30Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] _The_ phonetic alphabet? You say that like there’s only one. 😃 There are lots out there. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I was taking a shortcut in my post. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-dopers-a-for-apple-b-for-ball/370300.md?page=2)