Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is Up With the NATO Phonetic Alphabet?

[@TodayIFoundOut]

This video brought to you in part by our Patrons over on Patreon. If you’d like to support our efforts here directly, and our continued efforts to improve our videos, as well as do more ultra in-depth long form videos that built in ads and even sponsors don’t always cover fully, check out our Patreon page and perks here: www.patreon.com/TodayIFoundOut And as ever, thanks for watching!

[@SlavTiger]

thanks for this info, ii have added this alphabet to my emergency radio manual for reference.

[@RubyDoobieScoo]

Was the other part brought to us by Coca Cola?

[@Mike-zx1kx]

Now what has "Ø" for Øresund and "Æ" for Ægir done to be left out?

[@UnclePengy]

And you didn't even delve into regional phonetic alphabets such as the famous APCO (aka LAPD) radio alphabet, which I believe is still in use today, and which is the alphabet I learned growing up thanks to the famous TV series Adam-12 and Dragnet. (But then I became a Ham, and now I know two.) Well, maybe you can do a sequel.

[@wamlartmuse17]

Joe momma!

[@StormCaller5]

Lol we had a really smart dog that would lose his mind when we even spelled walk. Tried whiskey-alpha-lima-kilo for a while. He caught on to that, too 😂

[@jmr]

I'm not sure if my dog knows how walk and ride are spelled or if he just recognizes that we are spelling but either way he knows. 😂

[@PeterSwinkels]

Same with a dog my parents used to own. 🤣

[@Marcus-ki1en]

Our Greyhound not only learned W-A-L-K spelling but K-L-A-W, and we thought we were so smart. We tried spelling nonsense words to see if she was hitting on the spelling only, but she would only get excited when we spelled that word.

[@Consumpter]

dogs probably correlate the sounds of the letters as similar to sounds of words so as long as they hear a certain group of sounds they assume it means the same thing every time

[@siliconwolverine]

My morkie knows the same but it’s “outside” and “treat”

[@Hillbilly001]

US Army vet here, 78-90. Was the RTO for my company commander and using the phonetic alphabet was second nature. Still use it today when I have to spell something out over the phone. LoL.. Cheers from Tennessee

[@smithandshortdogs]

USAF... filled army ILO spots for a decade (04-12) was an RTO as well, but knew the alphabet before that because 2t1s have to learn it in tech school (That is 88m and AIT for you ground pounders).

[@jeffdroog]

Regular person here,and I also know this alphabet,because it was taught to me in kindergarten lol You don't have to wear camouflage to figure this out lol

[@jimmym3352]

one of the first things we learned in boot camp in the Navy. Something you'll use over sound powered phones all the time. Though certain letters are used more than others.

[@innobius4898]

Worst thing is when you instinctively use the NATO phonetics alphabet and a civilian says "hang on I can't write that fast" Oh God now I have to explain what a phonetic alphabet is.

[@jeffdroog]

@jimmym3352 Navy flex! Eh-oh! I like how we apparently have all these manly vets just sitting around all day waiting to brag about how they used to be something lol Good job!

[@CujoHyer]

You don't realize how important this stuff is until you're a dispatcher dealing with active crime scenes, or people's lives hanging in the balance. It's wild stuff, when you need it most.

[@mycroft_moriarty]

It's even weirder when you're the only person on the line who uses it...

[@SlavTiger]

or if war breaks out

[@tremorsfan]

We used to use it when I worked at Dulles. So many letters sound the same.

[@PaulHarris-sl1ct]

I have noticed that most law enforcement use names like "A as in Adam" I personally prefer "T as in Oolong"

[@DonFahquidmi]

​@@PaulHarris-sl1ct Or perhaps T as in Earl Grey.

[@ThorsonWiles]

Yes, and after having been a civilian for nearly 30 years, when I hear people in my office spelling items phonetically using non-nato words, and even using different words for the same letter in the SAME interaction ... I developed a twich. Once when a person got it right, I cheered and bought them lunch.

[@mattiemathis9549]

After the army I went into law enforcement. My agency used nato, but other agencies used words like Adam and David, so I got used to the different words. But yes, when the customer service representative says, “B as in boy, B as in Bob”, it’s like fingernails on a chalkboard.

[@stpnwlf9]

Following an air traffic control career, one of the great annoyances has been customer service types on the phone using nons-standard phonetics to spell things out. The pain is real.

[@alexdryver5090]

I learned NATO phonetic as a truck driver. If your job involves strings of letters and numbers being spoken you should know NATO phonetic. It's easier to understand and more professional then "B as in boy".

[@uchinanchuu58]

Same here except I'm still in ATC...

[@ryanjohnson628]

YES!! Along with the whole wasted words of “B as in boy…”

[@gullinvarg]

I had the NATO alphabet taped to my monitor when I worked on an IT help desk. I figured there was already a perfectly good phonetic alphabet that existed so why try to come up with my own? 😉

[@conradhershberger9359]

@@gullinvarg I memorized it when I did a year of IT phone support. That was 15 years ago, and I still use it.

[@jonbroadsword7572]

Two of the nurses on the TV series MASH were called Nurse Able and Nurse Baker.

[@DoIGetTube]

In more modern times, those same two would have been called Nurses Alpha and Bravo respectively.

[@BradHouser]

One of the few channels on KZbin that teaches me new words. I now know what acrophonic means. (An alphabet when the words of the letters begin with the letter). Thank you Simon.

[@EggsOverSleazy]

US Navy vet. 05-13. Still use the phonetic alphabet. Wicked useful.

[@randalmayeux8880]

What part of Boston are you from?

[@samking7213]

I'm an Australian Army Vet. Same years, 05 to 13

[@eddarby469]

Army NG still use it from the 80s.

[@jammiebooker6489]

Bravo Zulu

[@blindbrad4719]

I've used it to stay awake driving. Spelling things out with it including the phonetic spelling alphabet both forwards and backwards 😂

[@omquark2895]

I worked in tech support, over the phone of course, and I learned and used this because a lot of people I talked to could already communicate with it. It made my life a lot easier.

[@jamiekirkland2474]

I work in the aviation industry and I did not expect to learn anything new about the NATO phonetic alphabet when I clicked on this video. I never realized that alfa and Juliett have different spelling than a native English speaker would expect. Very interesting history of the various standards!

[@jeffweber8244]

I occasionally need to use them verbally myself. But I'm not sure when I'd ever write them down to note their spelling.

[@jamiekirkland2474]

@@jeffweber8244 I learned the alphabet decades ago at 10 years old (because I was a weird kid) and I don't think I have seen the alphabet written out since.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

It's not NATO invented. They just adopted it in 1956, but it was in use already for many decades.

[@_PITBOY]

Look at this. Lovely video edit. No vignette, no old film filter, nothing to distract from the simple transfer of the information of the story. Unlike another of Simons channels. An actual pro editor here ... nice.

[@platypus01au]

Thanks for this! As an ex-signaller from the Australian Army Reserve, this is seared into my brain. Fascinating to learn how it came about.

[@sarameitner6770]

This is phenomenal. I teach the NATO alphabet numerous times a year - and have done some research into various earlier English forms (there are SO MANY and each language has its own as well!). This deep research and chronological report is very welcome. I will definitely be recommending it to people who want more in depth background information as to the evolution of the (eventual) NATO alphabet.

[@route2070]

Yes making up my own phoenetic alphabet out of frustration while on the phone.

[@highpath4776]

Hay for Horses, Beef or Dinner, See for yourself, Dee for Kate, Effort ,

[@jimmyzhao2673]

Brandon at Talladega, the crowd chanting.

[@Jessepigman69]

D for dave o for....... August...... wait that's not an o..... "Sir it is OK, calm down"

[@jamesonmiller8283]

Yes of course: P as in Pterodactyl, S as in Sea, A as in Aye, E as in Eye, L as in Llama, M as in Mnemonic, C as in Cay, K as in Knight

[@danreyn]

"No my name is Carry, not Terri. That's C as in Crane, A as in Avery, R's like Railroad, and Y like Yike. No! Not Terri. How are you not getting this!?"

[@frankunderbush]

About 10 years ago I had my first job doing customer service at a call center, and I ended up unironically using this system because the modern phone connections are still crap. It felt a bit weird at first to use some of the more unconventional words but they are definitely distinct enough to never be mixed up with anything else. Fast forward to today, when I speak to customer service of whatever god forsaken cable company that I need to speak to, I do the same on my end to avoid confusion. On top of helping with bad phone connections, it also helps the numerous customer service reps who don't speak English as their first language.

[@UtilityCurve]

Apparently, the current service standards for fidelity/intelligibility are much lower for cellular telephony than mid-20th Century wired lines. A fair number of us remember the long-distance (and it is only a number of us who grok the concept of "long-distance" itself) carrier Sprint and its famous pin-dropping. No free lunch.

[@dragonhealer7588]

​@@UtilityCurve TANSTAAFL 😊

[@rhaedas9085]

@@UtilityCurve My dislike for cellular phone conversation happened sometime in the early 2000s when analog got quickly replaced with the more modern digital encoding. The human ear can fill in gaps in a message with some static, but the cutout that digital has when data is lost is terrible. Same issue with video, as a kid I remember still managing to watch a badly tuned channel on the TV, unlike a digital signal that gets blocky.

[@michaelsommers2356]

I find myself confusing an improperly pronounced QUEBEC with the letter K.

[@kah10161]

Amen to that! Definitely came in handy for open gas accounts in the Midwest.

[@charlottehardy822]

I was taught this as a kid and it’s second nature for me to use it when spelling things out over the phone.

[@Loves_three_kitties]

So great that know the history of the phonetic alphabet. I married a naval aviator in 1969. During our very short engagement realized my being able to learn not learning the phonetic alphabet would be a game changer. We have been married for 54 years!

[@danlabok7117]

🎉congratulations🎉 54 year's is amazing nowadays!

[@ChristophBrinkmann]

​@@danlabok7117 54 years is amazing in any era (unless the marriage has one or two abusive people.)

[@jackturner214]

Mazel Tov! My wife also caught on to the phonetic alphabet pretty quickly when she married this former airdale (though I was no longer in the Navy); one of the things that made me smile the biggest was a couple of months into our marriage when she referred to her sneakers as "go fasters." We'll have been married 21 years on next Saturday, provided she keeps me that long 😁 Fly Navy!

[@csjrogerson2377]

Bravo Zulu.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

Except he was lying about it originating with NATO. It was in use from the beginning of radio in the US.

[@Perry2186]

As a mechanic, I use a phenonic alphabet to read Vin numbers to get parts when I was a firefighter. We used Phenonic alphabet for radio communication

[@jeffdroog]

You were a mechanic,or a firefighter? Get your lies straight lol

[@Perry2186]

@jeffdroog 20year mechanics 11years volunteer firefighter

[@jeffdroog]

@@Perry2186 I'm a little shocked neither of those jobs,or the years apparently required to do them,ever required you to write a coherent sentence lol

[@Perry2186]

@jeffdroog talk to text doesn't work great with a southern accent. Also, I was driving proof reading wasn't a priority

[@richiehoyt8487]

​@@jeffdroog Always reassuring to see the Internet Police out and about and keeping busy.

[@Tremblox]

Fantastically researched and presented. Zero fluff and highly informative. Well done and thank you!

[@anthonyholroyd5359]

Armed forces, aviation industry - yeh. But also the police, ambulance service, fire service and (my own industry) the railways. Any industry where clear, unambiguous communication is vital? You will find the NATO phonetic alphabet being used. We dont use 'Foo-er', 'Fife' or 'Niner', but we do follow the protocol of verbalising individual numbers and letters. In the UK, each train operating over Network Rail infrastructure has a designated 'headcode' (like a flight number) that is formed of a number, a letter and two further nunbers. The first number indicates the priority of the service (e.g. 1 = express passenger train; 2 = local or stopping passenger train. 5 = a passenger train out of service . . . I.e. empty coaching stock). The letter indicates the route the train is running on - whilst the final two numbers identify the train. For example - 1A37 might be a train from Glasgow to Aberdeen. The '1' designates it as an express passenger train The 'A' as a train from the Scottish central belt, bound for Aberdeen The '3' and '7' tell you exactly which train that day is heading to Aberdeen. The train and hour earlier in the same route might have been '1A35', the train an hour behind '1A39'. Lets keep with '1A37'. Any communication between the driver, conductor, signaller or network control regarding this train would have '1A37' read and spoken as 'One Alpha Three Seven'. Likewise: 1B07 would be verbalised as 'One Bravo Zero Seven'

[@SteelWolf13]

Except civillian services use the names. Adam Baker charlie. Eww....

[@skyhawk_4526]

@@SteelWolf13 In California: Adam, Boy, Charles, David, Edward, Frank, George, Henry, Ida, John, King, Lincoln, Mary, Nora, Ocean, Paul, Queen, Robert, Sam, Tom, Union, Victor, William, X-ray, Yellow, Zebra.

[@bpomowe224]

Adam, Bertil, Caesar, David, Erik, Filip, Gustav, Helge, Ivar, Johan, Kalle, Ludvig, Martin, Niklas, Olof, Petter, Qvintus, Rudolf, Sigurd, Tore, Urban, Viktor, Wilhelm, Xerxes, Yngve, Zäta, Åke, Ärlig, Östen.

[@BobHutton]

I can remember my father using this alphabet in the late 1950's. I didn't realise it was so new. I had to memorise it in 1963 to do school over the radio.

[@repentantconservative7030]

Amateur (HAM) radio operator here. This is second nature for me. Still used today in the Amateur Service.

[@TubeLVT]

The term “ham”is not an acronym. It should not be written in all capitals.

[@SomeYouTubeGuy]

I work in an IT call centre and it frustrates me to no end that the NATO alphabet isn't taught or enforced by management.

[@pithicus52]

When I was stationed in Japan, all the bar maids in the bars near the front gate of the base spoke English so we would spell out words using the phonetic alphabet. "Interrogative Yankee Echo November" meant "how many yen do you have". Obviously not something that we wanted the bar maids to know.

[@Drew-bc7zj]

But how did you answer without them knowing? Start blurting out numbers and of course they'll be thinking money, right?

[@pithicus52]

@@Drew-bc7zj Just gave general values. "Lots, not much, etc." No, definitely did not give numbers because that would have meant pulling out our wallets and did not want to expose the contents of our wallets if at all possible.

[@Drew-bc7zj]

@@pithicus52 Afraid they'd have an accomplice rob you, or was it scams perpetrated on customers, like overcharging or watering down drinks?

[@pithicus52]

@@Drew-bc7zj The bar maids were only served from a special bottle of "whiskey" that the customers were never served from. And yes it was expensive.

[@Drew-bc7zj]

@@pithicus52 Were you forced to buy them drinks? It's not like there was a chance they were going home with you.

[@Fred_Lougee]

Bravo Zulu. You did a video on the phonetic alphabet without making it a complete Charlie Foxtrot.

[@benn454]

Coulda been a real SNAFU. That would've been really FUBAR.

[@cycoholic]

​@@benn454Then he would have had to bohica. 😂

[@benn454]

@@cycoholic The Green Weenie comes for us all.

[@mringasa1848]

This entire video was just a troll to get Simon to say "monkey nuts" in a video, right? Good one. Always neat to see the beginnings of something that is so ubiquitous.

[@ridesq]

London Monkey Nuts.

[@marklittle8805]

Most of the videos he has to say something silly ...his writers entrap him all the time

[@simontay4851]

What do you mean - his writers. He writes the script.

[@positivevibesveda]

@@simontay4851he does not, mostly just reads the scripts. he has several channels & the joke across them is he keeps his writers in his basement.

[@madelinecox4101]

"King Philip Caught One Fish Going South" will always be the way that I remember Kindom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

[@bigolbearthejammydodger6527]

kp crisps only fry good spuds was ours. and lets not forget Naughty elephants squirt water either ;)

[@redheadmetalhead247]

Kings Park Cars On Fresh Gold Streets

[@Debbie338]

That’s excellent!

[@slackerman9758]

Knave Pterodactyl Czars Oil Fjord Gnat Symbols

[@bruceanderson9003]

King Phillip Called Out For Good Soup

[@pogue972]

I used to work in tech/customer support over the phone and ended up, in fact, print out a copy of the NATO alphabet to have a reference when I had to spell things out over the phone as opposed to trying to come up with words on the fly. It was hung on my cubicle wall & co-workers ended up asking me about it and adopting the practice as well.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

It's not NATO. It's military. It was used way before NATO started.

[@pogue972]

@@bite-sizedshorts9635 Tell it to the people who made the video bro

[@samedwards6683]

Thanks so much for creating and sharing this informative video. Great job. Keep it up.

[@carolann811]

I transcribe body-worn camera audio. In one traffic stop for DUI the driver was asked to recite the alphabet. He rattled off a phonetic version.

[@pretzelhunt]

failed anyway tho

[@carolann811]

@@pretzelhunt Well, yeah, he was arrested. He said it correctly though. I was both impressed and annoyed b/c it took far longer to type Alpha, Bravo, Charlie than it did A, B, C.

[@josekentucky86]

I've done that myself ​@@carolann811

[@cycoholic]

That sounds like an interesting job.

[@agentwashingtub9167]

How many videos have you deleted for your friends?

[@Leviathan56]

Who decided to put "joemama" in the thumbnail?

[@freedomforever6718]

Joemamma did.

[@weaselcon]

Dadum dum dum tshhh!

[@musicalaviator]

Your Mother did.

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Producer extraordinaire and longtime basement dweller Sam. :-) -Daven

[@FavioredValkyrie]

Joemomma did.

[@CujoHyer]

I had a guy get nervous reading off a license plate to me once, and he hit X, and said 'Xylophone'. that got quite a few laughs later.

[@Lightning613]

Personally, had a difficult time translating the real (NATO) alphabet to the local police alphabet.

[@peterbennett8567]

I asked someone who was using random words what she'd use for Z - she immediately said "Xylophone"! (well, it does sound llike it should start with a Z)

[@CujoHyer]

@@peterbennett8567 Cracks me up that word would ever pop in somene's head for that purpose.

[@nlwilson4892]

That isn't as funny as my staff sergeant spelling out the registration of the van we were using and when he said "uniform" me thinking "I'm sure there wasn't a u", I checked, he was trying to indicate "y". I didn't correct, not my place :)

[@raindancer6111]

As an old biddy I would say that xylophone does spring to mind for X. When I was very young I had an alphabet puzzle with A for apple and a picture and so on. X was illustrated with a xylophone. It did give my nursery teacher a bit of a surprise when I came out with that one in class.

[@THE-X-Force]

lol .. (6:04) "Monkey Nuts" .. (yes, I have a 8yr old's sense of humor!)

[@Svensk7119]

The singular purpose of the phonetic alphabet is clarity. With more than half the consonants in the English-version alphabet sounding just like the Vowel "E", a shakey, staticky radio connection across a very loud situation where men are screaming, shouting, cursing, and crying, pronouncing each letter as a name or word guarantees more than one shot to determine the word. If I gear "--ee," it could be anything. If I hear, "--ko", or, "---elta," or, "--ango," I know exactly what was said: echo, delta, tango, "E", "D", "T", respectively. That's it. No need to watch now..... Except for the joy of watching Simon work. And it was a joy. I have finished it now, and I had not considered the international aspect. Well done, Simon! Thank you for a well-presented video.

[@floridaboz1]

Joemomma nice little Easter egg

[@James_Wotring]

I was looking for someone else who noticed!

[@ginbei711]

​@@James_Wotring me too 😂

[@oalfodr]

It was Easter in my part of the world around the time you wrote your comment

[@nunyabidness674]

@@oalfodr Your part of the world is 3 weeks behind everyone else?

[@oalfodr]

@@nunyabidness674 Yup. Church here follows Julian calendar

[@PetesGuide]

I made extensive revisions to the Wikipedia articles on this topic years ago, so you’re probably using a bunch of my work and research. But I learned a few new things that even I didn’t know, so color me extremely impressed!

[@IMeanMachine101]

ok the person who did that title needs a raise

[@teds8747]

I have watched many of your shows, but this one really stood out for me... I recently started learning the phonetic alphabet, as many of my friends are military and use it a lot... It is not so easy to pick up, but your explanation of its history and how it came to be the way it is now makes a lot more sense!

[@zeppelinmage]

I learned the NATO alphabet as a teenager when I got my ham radio license. Still use it today working in the airline industry, and anytime I need to spell something over the phone.

[@geoffpriestley7310]

I Wonder if he'll do the q codes next

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

Not NATO. It's military and invented way before NATO.

[@risenempire]

I worked with an organization called the Civil Air Patrol for about ten years. They perform critical search and rescue and disaster relief functions here in the US (and would ABSOLUTELY make a great video, that were responsible for the WWII shoreline protection of the US, bombed U-boats, and recovered one of the first enigma machines!) We used NATO for all radio communication and I still use it to this day and I've taught it to my kids!

[@samhavoc1066]

Still use it all the time when I interact with people on the phone and they or I need to communicate spelling of a word or letters in a serial number.

[@dinsdalemontypiranha4349]

This was awesome Simon! I'm interested in languages so that made this video of particular interest to me.

[@wendybrenner2614]

thank you Simon I was in the United States Navy and always wondered how they got these letters and used the specific terms for a different things 1:07 so today I learned what I should have known 20 years ago lol😊🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💯ogbb

[@wendybrenner2614]

1st

[@TheScandoman]

YES! You totally SHOULD have learned it 20 years ago! ...even if it wasn't a requirement of your rating.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

NATO had nothing to do with it.

[@TheScandoman]

@@bite-sizedshorts9635 Yes, it was in use before NATO.

[@mycroft_moriarty]

I haven't needed to transmit vital info that way in decades, and it's still etched into my brain...or my Bravo-Romeo-Alpha-India-November...

[@Elongated_Muskrat]

Oscar Mike Golf! What an odd topic.

[@LewisLittle66]

I used to work for a motor breakdown company and we were taught this in training. It was such a blessed relief when a customer knew it too.

[@GIBBO4182]

Genius title! 😂

[@mcswordfish]

I was inspired to learn it as a child because of watching The Bill (a police soap in the UK in the 90's) - all the radios used a two-letter call-sign and I was intrigued as to who "Sierra Oscar" was, so my Dad explained it to me. It's been absolutely invaluable to me in my professional life, working in IT - reading out alphanumeric passwords, or ever spelling someone's name on the phone is made much easier. I've done it for so long I can spell words just as quickly in NATO as I can with saying the "normal" letter names, much to the chagrin of my wife who can't use it at the same speed

[@lorensims4846]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is a delightful comedy movie memoir of the life of imbedded reporters in Afghanistan.

[@randomobserver8168]

One of the elements of the NATO alphabet that did make it out into gen pop for a while there. The filmmakers obviously assumed by then it was understood to mean WTF by enough people to buy tickets. Also, fun movie. People I knew thought it captured the civilian expat life in Kabul in those days reasonably well. At least for the media and a few other groups.

[@jliller]

Thank you. I was familiar with the old military phonetic alphabet and the NATO phonetic alphabet, but had no idea why the specific words used were chosen.

[@ArizonaJoeHines]

I was a casualty clerk for the 19th Combat Engineer Battalion (1970). Took many casualty reports over the radio. Like much Army training, the phonetic alphabet sticks with you. It's interesting that the Los Angeles Police Department apparently uses another phonetic alphabet, based on what you see on TV.

[@bhgtree]

I've been staring at the can of Coke Zero all the time as I listened to Simon.

[@johnguill6129]

In a telephone conversation in a previous employment, I once inquired of the person on the other end of the line by asking, "D as in Delta?" She replied, "No, D as in Dog." 🤨

[@timmystwin]

I know the phonetic one better than the normal one. I get to like G then forget which letter's next, but know the phonetic ones instantly.

[@Watty7878]

Gerp

[@pieterboelen2862]

"Normal one"? What's the normal one?

[@chitlitlah]

@@pieterboelen2862 I think he means the normal alphabet. Somehow he didn't learn his ABCs when he was a kid.

[@christopherdean1326]

I always assumed it was "alpha" not "alfa". Learnt it in basic training back in 1984, and thought I would never use it again, but it comes in handy when giving information over the phone. One time it was really useful was when I was installing computer based ticket machines. One of us had to read off this long code while another person entered it into the computer. One day, it just so happened that the person on the keyboard was an ex-RAF radio operator, so I was pretty confident she knew it. Our supervisor, who was not ex-military was quite...disgruntled at our workaround...

[@Pugjamin]

When I worked in a call center, my all time favourite was a customer who said “Q for cucumber” 😂🙈 My response “I can see where you’re going with that, but, no.”

[@TakaAmun]

As a 911 Operator, my similar but troublesome experience with a caller that I couldn't understand if he was saying S or F, so I asked several times 'F like Foxtrot, or S like Sierra?" He'd say something I didn't understand, so I tried again 'F like Frank, or S like Sam?', again some strange word that just wasn't registering with me with me. Finally I tell him that I am not understanding at all, is it 'F like Fast or S like Slow' (I may have added a touch of sarcasm on the Slow) - and he starts yelling and repeating, over and over until it finally clicks: 'F like coFFee'... 😳

[@sdoddsma]

As am amateur radio traffic handler, I've always used the current NATO phonetics, although some in the late 60s used the Able Baker version. It's so engrained in me that when somebody says 'Nancy' for 'N' instead of November, or 'Ida' for 'I' instead of India, I have a slight brain glitch; kinda like when somebody tells you their phone number and instead of the 3-digit, 3-digit, 4-digit cadence, they do something else. Great video on the history of phonetics, although I had to pause mid-way so as not to 'plant a seed' in my mind to use other words.

[@DanielHallmark]

Thr one that kills me is when operators use "kilowatt" to convey the letter 'k' instead of the prescribed "kilo." My mind immediately wants to transcribe KW instead of K.

[@joshanderson8938]

I've warned you once TIFO.... Don't be talkin bout my momma!!

[@zippanova]

Thanks to Gilles Messier for his usual excellent writing! And cheers for the injection of Canadian history. Watching here from Calgary!

[@likebot.]

Yeah, I kinda drooled at 10:24 when you showed a graphic of an IBM-122 key keyboard. Ohhh, clicky clicky click click.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

Lenovo makes one that has full travel keys that can be a good stand-in for you. And it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. That's what I'm using right now. I've worn the spacebar shiny smooth.

[@frakturfreak]

There is a company called Unicomp that bought the machinery and technology off of IBM and produces new buckling spring keyboards to this day.

[@likebot.]

@@frakturfreak Oh good. I have 2 of them and could use a few spare parts. And I'd like to convert one of them to USB. I jockeyed an AS/400 and their sequels for 30 years and these keyboards are more comfy than my favorite equally vintage jeans.

[@itsmarmalade]

Had to learn this really quickly after the Quick Assist update last year.

[@floridaboz1]

Still to this day i use the Phonetic Alphabet if i want to make clear what i am saying over the phone. One of the great things i learned from my time in the military

[@jeffdroog]

I learned this alphabet in kindergarten lol You went way above the call of the duty to learn this lol Fail.

[@SgtSupaman]

@@jeffdroog , don't worry, we can tell from your replies that you've never done anything significant with your life. You don't have to keep repeating it.

[@kacheek9101]

It's so ridiculously useful for phone conversations. I'm in the medical field and use it all the time. I wish more of my colleagues did... it's painful and time consuming when they struggle to come up with words for letters

[@juliav.mcclelland2415]

LOL I knew R was Romeo, but I didn't know J was Juliet. Cute.

[@peterbennett8567]

I test people's knowledge of the phonetic alphabet (for a Canadian Radio Operator certificate) and sometimes give Romeo as a clue for Juliett (or vice versa) when the student gets stuck - but that only works with people of the right culture (or age?)

[@epowell4211]

So cool. I remember years ago trying to learn this alphabet because I was having to deal with telephone business a lot. I brought it up at a class, and this older lady said she had it memorized because of her years as a telephone operator. Really interesting to learn of the different word-alphabets.

[@nicls2882]

I once told a French person over the phone "J" like Jalapeno... 🤦‍♀️ We've had a lot of good laughs over that one 😂

[@julioguardado]

I used to work for a French guy. He seemed to think the J in Julio was silent. 😁

[@cycoholic]

When I was in the NSW Ambulance, it was occasionally used, but they weren't strict on it. But being a gamer and into military movies and computer game, I was already fairky familiar with it. I still remember one time I needed more info on the patient we were picking up, and there was no way I could pronounce the foriegn (to me) name of the individual. Fortunately it was fairly short and used one letter twice. I remembered most of the letters, but I did have to double check myself so checked quickly online. I rehearsed it in my head a few times, picked up the handset and when it was appropriate, I spelled out the last name in the standard Nato phonetic alphabet. Fairly smoothly too. My mate who was driving, snapped his head in my direction and said something along the lines of "look at Mr Fancy Pants. 😂

[@jasotech1426]

Knight for K is just mad 😆😆

[@OtawoOnlineGaming]

I spent 10 years in the US Army, so when a customer I was delivering to gave me a dock W# I would inevitably refer to it as Whiskey #. The lady insisted that I must be an alcoholic because no other reason made sense to her.

[@Elon_Marz]

Charlie Oscar Oscar Lima!

[@tgbluewolf]

6:04 "London monkey nuts" sounds like a great alternative for an expletive when there are sensitive ears around. 🤣

[@tarmagain2771]

i see what you did there with the thumbnail

[@PeteJacksonPapasVlogs]

Interesting deep dive. I’m an amateur radio operator and the NATO standard alphabet is what we use. 73, Kilo Kilo 7 November Whiskey Uniform.

[@carlmenger9145]

based on the ITU alphabet, 7 should be setteseven.

[@edbangor9163]

Did he say "llama" instead of "Lima"?

[@01SaltyWitch]

How did you catch that?

[@edbangor9163]

USN 2013-17. I spent 12 weeks at OCS, where reciting the phonetic alphabet perfectly while doing burpees for an hour straight was a typical morning.

[@Annoyachu]

Glad I wasn't the only squid to hear it!

[@edbangor9163]

@@Annoyachu hooyah, brother

[@bufftigerx]

Incredible miss right in the intro

[@J.A.Smith2397]

Good one

[@maliusmaximus1428]

Used this Working for a bus company in Australia 20 years ago Absolutely hotel alpha romeo delta listening to this

[@skyhawk_4526]

Tango Mike India. 😆

[@gaius_enceladus]

I *love* the phonetic alphabet! It's so hugely useful! On a similar theme, Simon, maybe you can do a video on *police codes* - the codes that police use to indicate a particular crime or incident. The origin of those would be interesting!

[@skyhawk_4526]

Police codes vary tremendously depending on the agency using them. So does the phonetic alphabet they use. For example, in California, the phonetic alphabet used by CHP and local police is: "Adam, Boy, Charles, David, Edward, Frank, George, Henry, Ida, John, King, Lincoln, Mary, Nora, Ocean, Paul, Queen, Robert, Sam, Tom, Union, Victor, William, X-ray, Yellow, Zebra." On the other hand, the FBI, military and all federal law enforcement agencies use the NATO/ICAO phonetic alphabet of: "Alpha, Bravo, Carlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu." Prior to civilian law enforcement, I was in law enforcement in the US Air Force. We used completely different codes in the Air Force than I currently use in civilian law enforcement. A humorous example of this difference is that "Code 6" in the Air Force meant "I need a bathroom break." On the other hand, "Code 6" in civilian law enforcement (in California, at least) means "I need backup." This caused quite some confusion and frustration among the local sheriff's deputies that used to scan our base's radio frequency. They'd hear one of the Air Force gate guards ask for a "Code 6" (actually meaning the guard needed to use the restroom) and think the guard was asking for backup because that's what a "Code 6" meant at their agency. As far as police codes used to describe crimes, these are usually taken from the state Penal Code or Vehicle Code. They again vary by state. In California, a robbery might be dispatched as a "two-eleven in progress." This is because in California, robbery is defined in section 211 of the Penal Code. The same would be true of getting dispatched to a "possible twenty-three-one-fifty-two driver." This means a possible drunk driver because the crime of driving under the influence in California is section 23152 of the Vehicle Code. I hope that explains some things and also kind of shows how it would basically be impossible for Simon to cover all of this in a video, since every single state and country has its own unique codes.

[@juliav.mcclelland2415]

My last name includes an S. Every time I'm asked to spell it on the phone, I add "S as in Sam" by default.

[@4TheRecord]

If you want to upset a police officer, tell them to Foxtrot Oscar.

[@smithandshortdogs]

Llama?

[@kevtheis]

No.

[@smithandshortdogs]

@@kevtheis listen carefully 0:03...

[@MrMojo23100]

In Army cadets as a teen, I was automatically made the radio operator because I was the only one who knew the phonetic alphabet.

[@OhioCruffler]

"Ack ack" is not an example of phonetic alphabet; it is a corrupted version of the German 88, as in the 88mm anti aircraft gun. Acht acht.

[@tobi...398]

And "ack ack ack" is a quote from Mars attack

[@JamesDavy2009]

@@tobi...398 Martians predicted the opening date of the Beijing Olympic Games?

[@stevechopping3021]

That's Flak as in Fliegerabwehrkanone Ack Ack is differently British

[@inisipisTV]

​@@stevechopping3021 "Acht" German for 8. As in the popular 88 mm Flack gun.

[@michaelsommers2356]

Except the Germans measured the bores of their guns in centimeters, not millimeters, so it would be 8.8, not 88, to them.

[@dacelikethefish587]

Very Product Placement!

[@coolbrotherf127]

Did I just get joe mamma'd?

[@valerianleforge]

Had to learn this in the early 90s when I worked as a BT 100 and 999 operator. Came in super useful when I transitioned into Road Haulage. Now I work in an industry that is related to both Aviation and Road Transport so use it probably 10 times an hour. We have also spent a lot of time during slow periods trying to make our own - a profane one, one where the words either make no sense or are ridiculously long (g for gnome, A for antidisestablishmentariansim etc), currently working on a Tudor Courtiers version.

[@JohnHoggard_aka_DaddyHoggy]

I always find it ironic that I end up spelling out my email address using the NATO phonetic alphabet over the phone.

[@BerndFelsche]

What's @ ?? 😊

[@JohnHoggard_aka_DaddyHoggy]

@@BerndFelsche well, as NATO a dual language system, the other language being French, we could use 'escargot' as the French alt word for the @ symbol in email addresses...

[@chrisfitzchrisfitz5182]

Whiskey Oscar whiskey! Holy phonetic alphabet Batman, very informative and very in-depth view of the evolution of phonetic alphabets!

[@phillwainewright4221]

Alpha said “Bravo, Charlie” and Delta Echoed the sentiment. We danced the Foxtrot at one of those Golf Hotels (it was in India) when Juliet (who had put on a few Kilos) gave a Lima bean to Mike. Last November, Oscar’s Papa went to Quebec to meet Romeo. He wore a Sierra and Tango coloured Uniform. Meanwhile Victor drank Whiskey as he looked at the X-ray of the Yankee, whose arm was broken by a Zulu.

[@kendotek9414]

I wish I knew this when I was in the Army🤣🤣🤣

[@KismetBP]

Really enjoyed this video! Thanks for all the excellent work on it! ❤🤘

[@timothygreer188]

Anyone else giggle every time he said, "London, Monkey, Nuts"?

[@Hogscraper]

It's pretty handy when dealing with people from other countries over the phone. I'm glad it exists every time I take a call from someone from Quebec.

[@BXBZ88]

Saw Charlie wear a new Uniform last November for Tango dancing.......... Later he did the Foxtrot in same Uniform but it looked like Charlie lost some Kilos from all that dancing. Later he told the story of being at the Sierra Hotel in India and Tango danced there.

[@wendybrenner2614]

Dave.. he's one cool cat man! I'm addicted to his scripts, sorry Danny and kevin and the rest of the team🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💯😎

[@THE-X-Force]

Sir .. step away from the emojis

[@jasonkay42]

I learned the NATO/ITU alphabet when I became an amateur radio operator in 1999. It was seared into my brain during Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day events, when I would handle upwards of 80 contacts each hour while working our club radio setup in a literal field each year. We always had a very popular station during the event, as our call is W4CQ (W4 is a regional identifier, while CQ is common radio slang for "station calling").

[@AnOldGeezer420]

I just like hearing Simon say, "Monkey Nuts." 😂😂

[@docsavage8640]

I use the NATO phonetic alphabet every day because I do a lot of phone calls. Saves a lot of mistakes and prevents a lot of problems when you know it's Bravo not Victor.

[@dominiquejeangille9254]

When I was a boy scout we studied for Morse code a list of 26 (French) words where O would be - and any other vowel would be a • A was Allô •- B was Bonaparte -••• C was Coca-Cola -•-• N was Noël -• ... It was quite easy to remember. Less confusing than long and short syllables.

[@Jakey4000]

Phonetic alphabet should just be normal in day to day life, it makes a world of difference in pharmacy

[@wbrennan2253]

Yes. Insurance help desk operators sometimes work from home. Or are not native English speakers. Or bad phone connections.

[@TheCaptainConway]

Every call centre I've worked for also uses the NATO standard to clarify information as well, although they don't use the numbers.

[@jamesricker3997]

It makes the letters easier to understand over the radio when a bad connection can make understanding difficult and have serious consequences