(no subject)

[lolotehe]

Dear programmers;

Be aware that the letters B, D, V, Z, T, and P all sound the same when you give them over the phone. English is not your first language and the accent is quite thick, so be aware of that.

"F as in fan" is a good way to add extra time to your call. The same goes for "S as in sank". Are you guys trying to be funny over there? Try to be a little more original, like P as in pneumonia, K as in knife, or D as in Dniper.

Also, nouns are good. We like nouns because then we know what's being discussed. Don't ever say "the thing" or "some error message". You get an error message, we want the error message. And no, we do not read minds, so we don't know what "thing" you're talking about.

Comments

[spiker-uk.livejournal.com]

Any programmer who doesn't actually know the phonetic alphabet isn't worth their salt anyway.

[sdaemon.livejournal.com]

There are many phonetic alphabets to choose from. The ITU one is probably the safest to use, but many others are in widespread use.

[endotoxin.livejournal.com]

I usually use ITU, but I've been known to default to British RAF, circa 1944. I find it rather easy to mix and match with impunity.

[lolotehe]

If we paid them in salt...oh, if only.

[mmaster.livejournal.com]

Colour me a little confuse. How is knowing the phonetic alphabet a necessary skill for a programmer?

[mmaster.livejournal.com]

confused*

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

Perhaps not 'core skill', but it's one which can facilitate phone conversations and troubleshooting transcription issues, and it takes about thirty seconds to pick up, and if there's a working internet connection around, it's a skill which can be acquired during the course of a short conversation.

It's also sufficiently semi-esoteric enough that many people in IT have picked it up along the way in their career, at least to the point where they can receive and transcribe in real time, even if they'd need to pull up a reference chart to transmit.

[endotoxin.livejournal.com]

Programmer? Maybe not strictly necessary, but certainly nice to know. Tech Support? You better believe it, chuckles!

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

That's why I use names (though I try to avoid ones like Mary and Larry). It's easier to hear the difference between Brian, David, Victor, Trevor and Patricia. Besides, it's easy to improv.

[lolotehe]

You say "P as in Papa" to the Russian programmer and he says "P as in Peter". EVERY TIME.

Then it's always "Q as in queen" or "K as in kite" (or king). I try try try with them. They just don't get it.

[sdaemon.livejournal.com]

Older phonetic alphabets, perfectly valid, just not ITU official.

And for the record, my Moscow contact uses "papa" :)

king and queen are very common though. And sugar in lieu of Sierra. And baker instead of bravo. Nancy instead of November.

Kilowatt instead of kilo bugs the hell out of me tho.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

Sugar, baker, and kilowatt... er, nevermind, you ARE an amateur radio operator.

I was going to go on a little history lesson about strange alphabets and radio before I had the good sense to click on your profile. :)

73 de KI4IIB.

[sdaemon.livejournal.com]

73 de k4sz!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_caecus_/]

I totally do this, too.

[sdaemon.livejournal.com]

International telecommunications union phonetic alphabet is very useful for phone support. I got in the habit of using it through HAM radio but now use it almost daily as an IT monkey. Has the distinct advantage of being globally accepted as the "standard".

Alfa 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.

Making up other phonetics will usually work, but if I know I'm dealing with a foreign speaker, ITU phonetics it is.

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

And for God's sake, people, 0 is "ZERO", not "OH", "NIL", "NAUGHT" or "OUGHT".

[ghostdandp.livejournal.com]

only one valid there would be ought. Others wouldn't.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

So why can't it be "naught"? It's a perfectly valid name for the numeral.

[hotclaws.livejournal.com]

can be confused with eight

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

Because "naught" sounds like "not"

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Not where I'm from. :-)

But yes, I geddit. "Zero" is perfectly good if the context is ambiguous.

[bekscilla.livejournal.com]

Also, telling me you can't get into the "system" is really useless. Pick a system, and tell me the name

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

THIS. Also, "my system crashed" is not a valid way to report an email stuck in your outlook outbox.

Outlook: i may actually hate it more than users. (it's like David hasselhoff's songs - whichever one you dealt with most recently is the worst ever.)

[bothunter.livejournal.com]

You forgot "E as in eye".

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

hahaha somehow I hadn't heard that before.

[cirobi.livejournal.com]

haha, that one is awesome in that "wow, what an idiot" kind of way. :)

[lolotehe]

Zing!

[seaofdestiny.livejournal.com]

S as in sea
Y as in you
W as in why

[wolfhound668.livejournal.com]

About a week ago as I was walking past one of the helpdesk guys I overheard him telling a user, "X as in Xylophone". I waited until he was off the call then said, "dude, you did *not* just say X as in Xylophone". His answer was that he couldn't come up with an 'X' word. His other option was Xerox.

We work for a medical group. One of our screen saver pages is the phonetic alphabet. You'd think he'd know X-Ray.

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

what's really odd, if you stop to think about it, is that EVERYBODY knows how to spell "xylophone".

People that can't spell "guitar" can manage "xylophone"... despite how rare it is to actually interact with one. weird.