I’m not sure whether it was “S as in Summertime” or “X as in Xylophone” that pushed my father over the edge, but by the time I finished talking with tech support, his face was bright red. “S as in Sierra! Everybody all over the world knows that,” he said.

I had no idea.

Actually, I had seen a copy of the military alphabet code or NATO phonetic alphabet taped to a friend’s refrigerator recently and laughed at him. Who talks like that? (Please forgive me!) I thought up words every time I spoke on the phone as a form of creative expression and mood indicator.

At least I am kind and resist the urge to say “A as in Aisle, B as in Bdellium, C as in Czar, D as in Djinn, E as in Eureka, G as in Gnome, H as in Honest, J as in Jicama, K as in Knock, M like Mnemonic, O for Ouija, P as in Pneumonia, Q for Qat, T as in Tsunami, W as in Who, X as in Xylophone…” OK, so I’ve used “X as in Xylophone.”

Here is the official military alphabet code/NATO phonetic alphabet: Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey X-Ray Yankee Zulu

Well it turns out everyone doesn’t talk like that. Or at least they haven’t always. I found the Phonogram chart image above in the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill, New Zealand.

Here are some other examples:
Western Union Phonetic Alphabet
Adams Boston Chicago Denver Easy Frank George Henry Ida John King Lincoln Mary New_York Ocean Peter Queen Roger Sugar Thomas Union Victor William X-ray Young Zero

‘British A’: Amsterdam Baltimore Casablanca Denmark Edison Florida Gallipoli Havana Italia Jerusalem Kilogramme Liverpool Madagascar New_York Oslo Paris Quebec Roma Santiago Tripoli Uppsala Valencia Washington Xantippe Yokohama Zurich

Bombay telephone directory 1962 (also a later source): Army Brother Cinema Doctor English Father Gold Hotel India Jam King Lady Mother Navy Orange Paper Queen Raja Sister Table Uncle Victory Water X-ray Yellow Zero

Kenyan and Tanzanian telephone directories 1966: Africa Bombay Charlie Durban England Freddie George Harry India Japan Kenya London Mombasa Nairobi Orange Peter Queen Robert Sugar Tanga Uganda Victory William X-Ray Yellow Zanzibar

RAF 1942-43: Apple Beer Charlie Dog Edward Freddy George Harry In Jug/Johnny King Love Mother Nuts Orange Peter Queen Roger/Robert Suga Tommy Uncle Vic William X-ray Yoke/Yorker Zebra

• Here are phonetic alphabets for other languages.
• Phoneticise.com is an online utility to phoneticise any text that you enter.

What does your phonetic alphabet look like?

Echo November Juliet Oscar Yankee!