# What medical intervention comes between an alcoholic drink and an American?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-medical-intervention-comes-between-an-alcoholic-drink-and-an-american/226600>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 29, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-medical-intervention-comes-between-an-alcoholic-drink-and-an-american/226600 "2004-01-29T16:51:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ellis555](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e36b37/32.png) [@ellis555](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ellis555)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-medical-intervention-comes-between-an-alcoholic-drink-and-an-american/226600/1 "2004-01-29T16:51:07Z")

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Rather a strange question at the local pub quiz this past week. Even more strange was the fact that the “answer” made no sense to me, nor to anyone else in the bar. Subsequent googling has helped not at all, so I turn to the TM. Here’s the answer as given…

Xray, in the phonetic alphabet

Anyone got a clue how they came up with that one?

Thanks in advance  
-ellis

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**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-medical-intervention-comes-between-an-alcoholic-drink-and-an-american/226600/2 "2004-01-29T16:56:27Z")

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> [@ellis555](#):
>
> Rather a strange question at the local pub quiz this past week. Even more strange was the fact that the “answer” made no sense to me, nor to anyone else in the bar. Subsequent googling has helped not at all, so I turn to the TM. Here’s the answer as given…
> 
> Xray, in the phonetic alphabet
> 
> Anyone got a clue how they came up with that one?
> 
> Thanks in advance  
> -ellis

It comes between whiskey and yankee. You know…alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, allthe wat to zulu.

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**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-medical-intervention-comes-between-an-alcoholic-drink-and-an-american/226600/3 "2004-01-29T16:56:59Z")

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The miltary alphabet.

Whiskey  
X-Ray  
Yankee

…which stand for “W,” “X,” and “Y” in radio communications, when the letters by themselves may be difficult to make out over the static.

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**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-medical-intervention-comes-between-an-alcoholic-drink-and-an-american/226600/4 "2004-01-29T16:58:22Z")

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Erm…“all the way to zulu.” Here’s a [Link.](http://fusion.sims.berkeley.edu/jstetson/term.cfm?term_id=CO0013)

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**Author:** ![ellis555](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e36b37/32.png) [@ellis555](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ellis555)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-medical-intervention-comes-between-an-alcoholic-drink-and-an-american/226600/5 "2004-01-29T17:15:54Z")

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Oy vey.

I can claim alcoholic clouding the night of, but have no valid defense for not being able to make a simple logical connection like that whilst pondering the question over the last couple of days. I’m gonna have to go with the excuse that having been subjected to such gaffes as the pronunciation of “they” as “the y” has dumbed down my expectations for our local pub quiz so much that I was relying on simple trivial recall rather than any actual thought.

Anyhoo…much thanks, gents (or ladies, if that happens to be your persuasion).

-ellis