"in phonetics"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Then why don't the brilliant NATO planners USE "Gulf" *instead* of "Golf"?

These guys stand between us and nuclear destruction, for God's sake!

JL

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 10:35 AM, Scot LaFaive <slafaive at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Scot LaFaive <slafaive at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "in phonetics"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > "Golf," e.g. is theoretically supposed to be pronounced like "gulf."
>
>
> I believe that's the way it is for me.
>
> Scot
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "in phonetics"
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Wackipedia has a fascinating discussion at
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet#Pronunciation
> >
> > Scroll down esp. to "Pronunciation."  "Golf," e.g. is theoretically
> > suppose=
> > d
> > to be pronounced like "gulf."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 6:13 AM, Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net
> > >wrot=
> > e:
> >
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> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> > > Subject:      Re: "in phonetics"
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > ------
> > >
> > > Wilson,
> > >
> > > To the best of my knowledge "Alfa" still represents A in military
> > > "phonetics".  Has remained the same since 1956, when it changed,
> > supposed=
> > ly
> > > to facilitate pronunciation by members of various NATO countries' armed
> > > forces.  In the changeover from the old "Abel, Baker, Charlie..." form,
> > > three survived:  Charlie, Mike, & Victor
> > >
> > > Bill Palmer
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Wilson Gray" <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 10:10 PM
> > > Subject: Re: "in phonetics"
> > >
> > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail
> > > > header -----------------------
> > > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Subject:      Re: "in phonetics"
> > > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > ------
> > > >
> > > > I wonder why _A_ is such a problem? "Abel" in WWII, "alfa" during my
> > > > military service, now "adam." And there's "bravo" vs. "baker." But
> > > > "charlie" appears to be money.
> > > >
> > > > -Wilson
> > > >
> > > > On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Arnold Zwicky<zwicky at stanford.edu>
> > > wrote:
> > > >> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> > > >> header -----------------------
> > > >> Sender: =C2  =C2  =C2  American Dialect Society
> <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.ED
> > =
> > U>
> > > >> Poster: =C2  =C2  =C2  Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> > > >> Subject: =C2  =C2  =C2 "in phonetics"
> > > >>
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> > ------
> > > >>
> > > >> a little while ago, on an episode of NCIS, Special Agent Gibbs
> (played
> > > >> by Mark Harman), annoyed when people failed to understand some
> proper
> > > >> names, exhorted everyone to say the names "in phonetics" -- by which
> > > >> he meant that they should use what's known in some circles
> (especially
> > > >> military ones) as a "phonetic alphabet". =C2 the technical term for
> > th=
> > ese
> > > >> is "spelling alphabet", but you can see why no one would want to say
> > > >> that you should use "spelling".
> > > >>
> > > >> a spelling alphabet is a kind of code for the letters of the
> alphabet,
> > > >> in which each letter is represented by a word beginning with that
> > > >> letter: Adam, Bravo, Charlie,...; Abel, Baker, Charlie,...
> > > >>
> > > >> the wikipedia entry gives a number of spelling alphabets, for
> english
> > > >> and a number of other languages:
> > > >> =C2  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_alphabet
> > > >>
> > > >> i didn't find "phonetic alphabet" (in this sense) under either
> > > >> "phonetic" or "alphabet" in the OED. =C2 or "spelling alphabet"
> under
> > > >> either "spelling" or "alphabet".
> > > >>
> > > >> arnold
> > > >>
> > > >> ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > -Wilson
> > > > =E2?"=E2?"=E2?"
> > >  > All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint
> to
> > > > come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> > > > -----
> > > > -Mark Twain
> > > >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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