Names of Letters / Om alt annet / Forum

erinja
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erinja (Å vise profilen) 2007 3 20 14:41:32

Islander:The 2 provided examples don't make much sense to me. The idea of such alphabet, as the NATO standard is, is to provide a short reference (usually 1 strong syllable followed by a soft one: ALpha, BRAvo, CHARlie, ...). Most provided examples have 3, even 4 syllables. This is counter-productive.

I agree. The problem is that most people don't know the whole 'radio alphabet', even in their native language, although there are certain conventions (Italians, for example, use names of cities - B as in Bologna, M as in Milano, etc). I think people are inclined to use whatever comes to mind, so while I agree with the use of alpha, bravo, charlie, etc - I personally spell my name (in English) with a mixture of names (P as in Peter) and random words (E as in Elephant).

Having said this, the lists that the Jarlibro gives are way better than the strange mishmash of names that people may not even be familiar with ("Is that Y as in Yellend or J as in Jelend???")

Islander
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Islander (Å vise profilen) 2007 3 20 14:46:18

Islander, your point is well taken. There is a need for this, and perhaps you are the person to do it.

I am a 3 month old Esperantist, I have absolutely no pretention of being the one to do something like this.

But such a standard would be important and the academy should look for a more formal concesus of such process. It's not 1 individual, no matter how knowledgeable and intelligent he or she may be, that could come up with the best option. As this would need to become a standard all over the world, this should be discussed with people from all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Making the NATO standard was not as easy as it may appear. It still isn't has several coutry may still have issues with 1 or 2 letters. Even in the US, airports replace "Delta" with "Dixie" to avoid confusion with Delta Airlines.

pastorant
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pastorant (Å vise profilen) 2007 3 23 04:33:47

Islander:
Yes, it's K like knife and P like psychologist...

My wife has a very funny way of saying how to spell her name.
Someone asked her once if her name (Kelly) was spelled with a Y or an I, and she said ..neither..it's with an F!.

So now, the ongoing joke is..Kelly with an F, the Q is silent...
Only a few people get our humor

Islander
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Islander (Å vise profilen) 2007 3 26 14:34:18

So now, the ongoing joke is..Kelly with an F, the Q is silent...
Only a few people get our humor

That reminds me how a friend I had in grade school. His family name is Tremblay, which is the most common Québécois name. The teacher, probably out of habit, asked him to spell it out. Stomped at such request, he then spelled out T-r-e-m-b-l-a-y-z-o-w-i-c-h-k-y... And he actually was able to spell that much letters until the teacher realised.