The frustration of using aviation lingo at work

gkainz said:
One place I worked, the CTO was named Joe, and so was the CFO ...

So, CTO Joe was "José", while CFO Joe was "Hose B"
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That joke's at least as old as I am:

What did the Mexican fireman name his twins?

--

I crack up whenever I either overhear someone on the phone, or am on the phone with someone, and they try to spell something:

"F as in Friday", "T as in...uhh...tomato"
 
Matthew said:
That joke's at least as old as I am:

What did the Mexican fireman name his twins?

--

I crack up whenever I either overhear someone on the phone, or am on the phone with someone, and they try to spell something:

"F as in Friday", "T as in...uhh...tomato"
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and I suspect all of us involved are probably considerably older than you, too! :) btw ... José was one of the beer guys out in Golden, CO ... but the non-brewing brother ...
 
People are much nicer to me when, instead of, "What?" I reply, "Say again."
 
I've lost count how many phone calls to friends/family/anywhere I've ended with my operating initials.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Although the phonetic alphabet extends well beyond aviation.
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I helped some kids that were heading off to basic with the phonetic alphabet once. Apparently that's in the little packet of stuff you're supposed to learn before you show up.

I like that my insurer (USAA) deals with the military regularly so you can read them VIN numbers in the like using the phonetics and they don't even miss a beat.
 
6 years old, in 1st grade. My dad had taught me the phonetic alphabet the night before.
I'm sitting in class with nothing to do, having finished the very important task of writing down the counting to 100 by 2's, 5's, and 10's for the umteenth time. So I started to review the phonetic alphabet in my head.

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie ...
...
Quebec, Romeo, Sierra,
uh, hmm what's 'T'? Darn it, can't remember the 'T'.

I know, I'll ask my teacher! She's a teacher, she knows everything, right?

So up marches I to the teacher's desk and asks the question: "Excuse me Mrs. Pickel, what is the phonetic alphabet for 'T'?".

She looked at me and responded: "Tuh"

"No, no, Mrs. Pickel, the phonetic alphabet for 'T', you know, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. What's 'T'?"

And with infinite patience, and likely thinking she had a real dummy on her hands, my teacher again responded: "Tuh, T sounds like Tuh, now go sit down."

"Thank you Mrs. Pickel, yes ma'am." And so I went back to my seat, not having any more knowledge than I did before about the phonetic alphabet for 'T', but now completely enlightened to the fact that my teacher was a fraud.
 
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jimhorner said:
6 years old, in 1st grade. My dad had taught me the phonetic alphabet the night before.
I'm sitting in class with nothing to do, having finished the very important task of writing down the counting to 100 by 2's, 5's, and 10's for the umteenth time. So I started to review the phonetic alphabet in my head.

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie ...
...
Quebec, Romeo, Sierra,
uh, hmm what's 'T'? Darn it, can't remember the 'T'.

I know, I'll ask my teacher! She's a teacher, she knows everything, right?

So up marches I to the teacher's desk and asks the question: "Excuse me Mrs. Pickel, what is the phonetic alphabet for 'T'?".

She looked at me and responded: "Tuh"

"No, no, Mrs. Pickel, the phonetic alphabet for 'T', you know, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie. What's 'T'?"

And with infinite patience, and likely thinking she had a real dummy on her hands, my teacher again responded: "Tuh, T sounds like Tuh, now go sit down."

"Thank you Mrs. Pickel, yes ma'am." And so I went back to my seat, not having any more knowledge than I did before about the phonetic alphabet for 'T', but now completely enlightened to the fact that my teacher was a fraud.
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And a well paid fraud with wonderful benefits.....

Notice how the U.S is now ranked 39 in the world in educating children...:mad2::mad2::mad2:
 
flyingron said:
I helped some kids that were heading off to basic with the phonetic alphabet once. Apparently that's in the little packet of stuff you're supposed to learn before you show up.

I like that my insurer (USAA) deals with the military regularly so you can read them VIN numbers in the like using the phonetics and they don't even miss a beat.
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Yes, I have USAA and they do use the standard phonetic alphabet. I learned the phonetic alphabet and radio procedures and phraseology in the military well before I got in to aviation.

FYI the aversion of the word "repeat" as nothing to do with aviation, it's a carryover from military communications where "repeat" is a reserved word which only means "fire another artillery barrage."
 
One of my fears is I have a brain vapor lock on the radio and forget a letter. "Tower, Cessna 123...123...uhh...123 Tee...ready for takeoff."

I don't want to be that guy.
 
kayoh190 said:
I have to be honest guys - I avoid using aviation lingo outside of aviation situations. Seems to me that doing otherwise is kind of dorky.

Niner? Affirmative? Are you guys saying this crap at the bar too?
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Frankly, I like using "niner" and the phonetic alphabet for clarity to avoid misspellings etc. If a dumba** on the receiving side does not understand, it's his problem.

I don't use any pilot lingo outside of flying because it really is dorky.
But when a pilot buddy calls me up on the phone, I like to answer with my tail number for fun. Okay, yes, that is dorky ... a little. :)
 
"The number is tree niner niner four"

"Tree? Nine oh nine oh four?"

"Nein, nein! Dummkopf! Tree Niner Niner Four!"
 
Years ago I was on the phone with a customer service rep in India or Pakistan named "Steve" or something.

"How may I be of helping you?"

Then I had to use the word "stagecoach".

"Please, how will you spell that?"

"S, T, ..."

"OK, X, P. Go ahead."
 
I made the mistake of using the phonetic alphabet at the local DVM. A big black lady blankly stared back at me and said "Speak English".
 
N801BH said:
And a well paid fraud with wonderful benefits.....

Notice how the U.S is now ranked 39 in the world in educating children...:mad2::mad2::mad2:
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Frauds are the non-teachers, TFA etc programs. Starting salary in public schools in some states is so much lower than private schools, that they have to take pretty much anyone who is willing to teach, even if they only have an undergrad in something completely irrelevant. So most well educated and talented teachers go to private schools now.
The non-teachers are one of the main reasons why by average US does so poorly in early childhood education.
 
Not sure why anyone would want to use aviation lingo at work, unless they work in aviation.

Phonetic alphabet, OTOH, is not specifically aviation, and works quite well for me at work. Then again, I work at a military college. Outside of work is a different story. Anyone who knows my last name knows that it's pronounced exactly like a VERY common American name that's usually spelled quite differently. So I often have to spell it to people over the phone, which doesn't usually work too well because aural fidelity is poor. When that happens I do resort to the phonetic alphabet, but it seems 50% of the population don't even recognize it when they hear it.

:mad2:
 
kayoh190 said:
I have to be honest guys - I avoid using aviation lingo outside of aviation situations. Seems to me that doing otherwise is kind of dorky.

Niner? Affirmative? Are you guys saying this crap at the bar too?
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I catch myself using "negative" occasionally when answering questions, especially at the doctor's office. Don't do it on purpose, it just comes out before I catch myself.
 
An attorney used phonetic spelling in my courtroom a few times. I finally asked him if he was a pilot. No, he said; his paralegal is former military and it rubbed off.
 
kayoh190 said:
I have to be honest guys - I avoid using aviation lingo outside of aviation situations.
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Me too. Except when I have to spell something out over the phone I'll use the phonetic alphabet.
 
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ahh... I work for a technology company that installs Wi-Fi on aircraft. The vast majority of the folks here are IT/telecom folks except for my department. Trying to speak aviation to some of them is quite interesting and can be rather frustrating at times. The merging of two industries isn't as easy as one would think it should be.
 
denverpilot said:
Remind me to turn off your Ethernet port tomorrow and disable your phone and your email. You won't be needing any "IT" services, I'm sure.
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I have to admit. When I was in my 20's I had to teach a guy a lesson by disabling his Ethernet port. I would switch it off and wait for my phone to ring then turn it back on before I picked it up. I take my job too seriously to do that stuff now. One of the downsides to getting older.
 
N number suffices for Roger.
ATC assumes if you received it you will comply, so wilco is largely redundant.
 
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