this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
483 points (98.8% liked)

Cool Guides

5900 readers
366 users here now

Rules for Posting Guides on Our Community

1. Defining a Guide Guides are comprehensive reference materials, how-tos, or comparison tables. A guide must be well-organized both in content and layout. Information should be easily accessible without unnecessary navigation. Guides can include flowcharts, step-by-step instructions, or visual references that compare different elements side by side.

2. Infographic Guidelines Infographics are permitted if they are educational and informative. They should aim to convey complex information visually and clearly. However, infographics that primarily serve as visual essays without structured guidance will be subject to removal.

3. Grey Area Moderators may use discretion when deciding to remove posts. If in doubt, message us or use downvotes for content you find inappropriate.

4. Source Attribution If you know the original source of a guide, share it in the comments to credit the creators.

5. Diverse Content To keep our community engaging, avoid saturating the feed with similar topics. Excessive posts on a single topic may be moderated to maintain diversity.

6. Verify in Comments Always check the comments for additional insights or corrections. Moderators rely on community expertise for accuracy.

Community Guidelines

By following these rules, we can maintain a diverse and informative community. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the moderators. Thank you for contributing responsibly!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Azzu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

Because it almost never becomes more of a time-save to learn the phonetic alphabet than the 3 seconds it costs every 3 years when someone is saying "did you say a or h?" to me.

This only matters for people that regularly (at least once every few days) need to spell something out loud to someone, or if an error would lead to serious consequences. Almost no one is in those positions.

[–] bunnyBoy@pawb.social 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Working in a call center, I can definitely agree that you don't need to know the proper NATO phonetic alphabet, because 'A as in apple' and 'M as in Mary' work just as well.

But I do wish more people would say something to that effect because I lose more than 3 seconds every day to 'Did you say N or M' while on the phones.

[–] Trainguyrom@reddthat.com 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I picked up the NATO alphabet while working in a callcenter. I also picked up that most customers can't figure out what the heck you mean by "address it to Fort Worth spell Foxtrot Oscar Romeo Tango Whiskey Oscar Romeo Tango Hotel" so I shifted to only spelling sound-a-like letters phonetically "address it to Ashwaubenon spelled A-S-H-W-A-U-B as in Bravo-E-N as in Nancy-O-N as in Nancy"

[–] bunnyBoy@pawb.social 2 points 1 day ago

100% this is the way. For short words I'll just spell it out and then do it in NATO such as 'That's Via benefits, V-I-A Victor India Alpha' and that also seems to register with them.

[–] Best_Jeanist@discuss.online 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I speak to customer service representatives on the phone and when they ask for codes, I recite NATO to them. And they get confused.

"Please sir can you enter your product code?"

"Yeah it's one zulu foxtrox three niner..."

"Wat."

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Weird. I learned from doing customer service and tech support. Never had anyone confused when I use it as a caller.

[–] buttnugget@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Yep, I only started to learn this when I needed it at work. People who use radios like police, fire, military, that makes sense. Otherwise, my girlfriend and I sometimes use it when we have trouble understanding each other.

I've been trying to use food items for the alphabet. Apple, banana, carrot, etc. It's not perfect but I like it.