
- #International telephone spelling alphabet registration#
- #International telephone spelling alphabet professional#
- #International telephone spelling alphabet tv#
#International telephone spelling alphabet tv#
S for Rantzen (Esther Rantzen, English TV presenter/journalist and chief founder/pioneer of the now globally replicated Childline charitable organization for young people).S for Costello (Esther Costello - a 1957 film).R for Askey (Arthur Askey, 1900-1982, popular diminutive bespectacled chirpy-chappy English comedian/actor/variety performer).I for a beautiful girl (eye for a beautiful girl).C for Th' Highlanders (Seaforth Highlanders - an early Scottish military regiment).W for a quid (double you a quid - a pound - a gambling term).P for relief (pee - urinate - for relief).D for dumb (deaf or dumb - ironically a correct word for the letter D).C for miles (see for miles, although 'Seaforth Highlanders', an old Sottish regiment, was an early popular alternative).Typically the alphabet would be spoken or written with dropped first-letters wherever appropriate, as in 'ay for 'orses. The alphabet is based on a child-like alphabet (A for Apple, etc), replacing the correct words to form puns. Its origins are uncertain, most probably evolving organically in Cockney London in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Not used by any important global standards organisations and certainly not recommended for use in confirming spellings, letters or words-it only confuses people!Īgain, there are different versions of this. It was originally developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization and subsequently adopted by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) among other significant global and national bodies covering telecommunications, maritime, and aviation.įor amusement only. Used by communicators around the world to clarify letters and spellings.Īs mentioned earlier, there are other versions of the alphabet, but the NATO one above is the original and most widely used. ‘G, Golf T, Tango W, Whisky,’ or alternatively, ‘GTW, Golf Tango Whisky.’

In less formal use, for example by customer service telephone staff, communications tend to give the letters and clarify with each corresponding alphabet word e.g.
#International telephone spelling alphabet registration#
For example, a registration or call-sign of GTW would be stated as ‘Golf Tango Whisky’. When used professionally by the police, military etc.-in relaying abbreviations or letter codes, such as registrations-only the corresponding words are stated. This is far more complicated, and is used by used by linguists, speech therapists, and language teachers, etc. The phonetic alphabet used for confirming spelling and words should not be confused with the phonetic alphabet used to confirm pronunciation and word sounds . Different versions exist-this is the original major standard, still the most widely used. The NATO phonetic alphabet is a useful reference for language and communications training and study. It is used to identify letters precisely when communicating initials, abbreviations or the spellings of words.
#International telephone spelling alphabet professional#
The phonetic language-also known as the 'spelling alphabet' or the NATO phonetic alphabet-is used by professional communicators like the police, military and other emergency and armed forces.
