Sergey Pechenkin
Sergey Pechenkin Cloud Architect @ Microsoft

Can you spell your name for me please?

Can you spell your name for me please?

How often have you heard that? It’s likely I’ve heard it hundreds of times. And I must admit, my spelling was terrible “E for Earth”? Really? “S” as in “dollar”?

WTF

After encountering some spelling difficulties, I sought out a more efficient method and found a great solution. I have used it frequently since then. A few days ago, while spelling my name over the phone, my colleagues likely thought I was a spy because I spelled my name as Sierra, Echo, Romeo, Golf, Echo, Yankee at the end of the workday in an almost empty office.

This comes from the NATO phonetic alphabet. Its is a Spelling Alphabet, a set of words used instead of letters in oral communication (i.e. over the phone or military radio). Each word (“code word”) stands for its initial letter (alphabetical “symbol”). The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows:

Symbol Code Word Morse Phonic Code (pronunciation)
A Alfa/Alpha ● ▬ AL FAH
B Bravo ▬ ● ● ● BRAH VOH
C Charlie ▬ ● ▬ ● CHAR LEE
D Delta ▬ ● ● DELL TAH
E Echo .● ECK OH
F Foxtrot ● ● ▬ ● FOKS TROT
G Golf ▬ ▬ ● GOLF
H Hotel ● ● ● ● HOH TELL
I India ● ● IN DEE AH
J Juliett ● ▬ ▬ ▬ JEW LEE ETT
K Kilo ▬ ● ▬ KEY LOH
L Lima ● ▬ ● ● LEE MAH
M Mike ▬ ▬ MIKE
N November ▬ ● NO VEMBER
O Oscar ▬ ▬ ▬ OSS CAH
P Papa ● ▬ ▬ ● PAH PAH
Q Quebec ▬ ▬ ● ▬ KEH BECK
R Romeo ● ▬ ● ROW ME OH
S Sierra ● ● ● SEE AIRRAH
T Tango ▬ TANG OH
U Uniform ● ● ▬ YOU NEE FORM
V Victor ● ● ● ▬ VIK TAH
W Whiskey ● ▬ ▬ WISS KEY
X X-ray ▬ ● ● ▬ Ecks Ray
Y Yankee ▬ ▬ ● ● YANG KEY
Z Zulu ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ▬ ZOO LOO

Additionally, as this is an IT blog, I would like to add a fun element. If you haven’t yet incorporated OpenAI into your daily routine, you’re missing out on a lot of fun.

OpenAI chatbot

OpenAI

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