Sunday, January 17, 2010

Y as in Europe

Quote of the blog-

My coworkers on the phone:

Doug: Mario, you sound distant.
Mario: Emotionally?
Doug: Uh, no. You sound far away from your phone.

********

I am on the phone a lot at work. When I take people’s names I like to use a phonetic alphabet to confirm the spelling: c as in cat, b as in boy, n as in nancy, etc.

Recently, my friend and I discussed whether people use F as in Frank more than F as in Foxtrot or some other F word (not that one!). My experience said Frank was the most popular term. He disagreed so we decided to do an experiment.

We performed a rigorous and extensive triple-blind experiment with a large study population and an expected p-value of less than 0.05. Ok, not really. I just kept track of the “F as in…” for the day and he polled people at a hamburger joint on his lunch break.

Frank won out, but just barely. I discovered that while the military phonetic alphabet may use a set list of words (including F as in Foxtrot) just about anything will do for your average civilian. People used F as in…Frank, Foxtrot, Frog, Flower, Freedom, and I even got one F as in Frankenstein. Classic.

One of the more interesting phonetic telephone convos I've had was with a woman who spelled her name as:

v as in victor
a as in apple
y as in europe
y as in europe
e as in eagle
r as in ralph

Y as in Europe? I was a little thrown and wanted to double-check the spelling-

“Ok, that’s:

v as in victor
a as in apple
y as in yellow
y as in yellow
e as in eagle
r as in ralph

Without hesitating she said, “Correct.”

I overheard my friend venting some serious frustrations at the office after he had been on the phone for almost an hour with three different customer service reps. He had to repeat his information over and over again. Finally, I heard him say, “No. The booking code is I as in Incompetent, F as in Frustrating, M as in Moron…”

That made me think: What if I started using a personalized version of a phonetic alphabet? What about a silent spelling alphabet? “Yes, that’s g as in gnat, a as in astigmatism, k as in knee, and p as in psychology.

Or, what if people used an alphabet specific to their line of work? Since I work with study abroad kids so I could say something like u as in unaccompanied minor, e as in England, p as in passport, but It wouldn’t be as exciting as someone in the mafia: l as in launder, t as in trunk, c as in cement shoes, h as in horse head in your bed

You could potentially reveal a lot about yourself with a personalized spelling alphabet so, for now, I think I’ll stick with the basic phonetic alphabet. Thanks for reading; I’m off to research vacation spots in Yurope.

11 comments:

  1. I'm dying! Sad part is, b/c of the [i as in] incompetence of many of my facebook friends who don't know how to spell, I no longer know how to spell! I am sure that in the next few years it will be me saying 'Y as in Europe' and think nothing of it. Holy smokes.

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  2. I usually go with p as in pneumonia

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  3. please tell me this is true...you're blogging???
    oh my heart is full today!
    sure love you girl! love your writing. and your sense of humor/adventure.
    xoxo
    jessica deal

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  4. Hilarious! I might have to go with more of a treat related theme. I might use examples such as:
    "C" as in cotton candy or Cadbury eggs, "O" as in Oreos...works for me.

    Love your new blog,
    Mindy (Mann) Cowan

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  5. I actually worked with a man named Juerg. His name was pronounced like "Yurg." And one day on the phone he tried to confirm the spelling of a code by saying "J as in Yurg."

    And I'm very excited about your blog. But I guess you already know I have a special place in my heart for blogs : )

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  6. A) Quote of the blog is hilarious.

    B) You had to go there with the mafia thing? Really? You should start using the following: R as in racist. S as in stereotypes. I for insensitive. D as is discrimination. And W as in what's your problem with Italians. Do you also use M as in minorities are known to carry guns? Or G as in ghetto where the blacks live?


    I'm O as in offended. :)

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  7. Brook, you shouldn't mock people's spelling when you clearly have your own problems. G-A-K-P? L-T-C-H? What words are you trying to spell? You should find your way to a liberry, and not let yourself exscape until you can spell as well as a nukular scientist.

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  8. Wow, you're hilarious! Thanks for the morning laugh!

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  9. How about I as in I'm Proud To Be An American, sung as you shove your way to the front of the line in Ireland?

    Please tell me you remember that.

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  10. Oh wow! That is the best ever. Thank you!

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