Hey its not my fault you cant state your info

[Sliceanddice]

Ok quick and simple one so little background first.
I take calls form the US and Canada.
A we all know human beings like the easy way out.
So very very very often i heat things like Nine-oh Two or oh-oh-oh-three because we like to say oh instead of zero.
Im ok with it most times because pretty damn obvious what you are trying to say (credit cards, zips, addresses to a certain extent)
BUT THERE ARE OCCASIONS WHEN IT JUST STUPID!!!
1. email. because if you say your email is jimboboh228@stupid.moron im going to put in jimbobo228@stupid.moron and repeat it back to you.
2. You have a weird address. Like plots. or lots. or weird things.
3. you are Canadian!!! for the love of god and all that is good!!! if you have a postal code use the other syllable all ready. Im the one the new hires turn to in embarrassment when your postal code doesnt work. and im the one who has fix NOS1GO to N0S1G0 (or what ever you said i picked that one for what im going to be telling you about in a minute) You have numbers and letters, say them.
Now my story!!
person calls in for a product. now this product is sold in Canada, but only to a certain line, and only of offer is available to you. I ask for zip code because this is the US line. the woman in question pisses me off. What does she say?
N-O-S-N-G-O
I type with out thinking.
Stop look at what i type. Mentley sound it out.... Nosngo.... nos ngo? ok.... could be a Vietnamese name...
Me- *repeats the epic fail*
Sc- yes
Me- Is this your name? (people give me names all the time...)
SC- NOOO! THATS MY POSTAL CODE!!! (yes she likes to yell)
me- ... um... even if the ohs you stated are infact ZEROS that isnt a postal code.
SC- YES IT IS ITS MINE!
Me- a zip code is 5 numbers long a postal code is an even mixture of numbers and letters. 3 of one 3 of another. You gave me for letters and 2 numbers.
SC- NOO I DIDNT!!!!
Me- you provided me with N-OH-S-N-G-OH
SC- NO I DIDNT!!! I SAID ONE!!!!! N-OH-S-ONE-G-OH!!
me- sighs.. fine. (fix it) you know ma'am you should really say zero it can be very confusing especially if you really meant O. you need to call xxx-xxx-xxxx this the Us line thank you good bye.
SC- whats your name!!
Me- Slice. (there another girl with my name now woohoo)
SC- Slice... thanks... bitch.

gah!!!

[Gravekeeper]

I like getting into Zed vs Zee fights with yankees. ;p

It baffles most Americans briefly but they roll with it. Some of the southern states though, they'll get MAD at you for daring to not speak "'A'merikan" as they put it. It gets a little surreal sometimes.

[Sliceanddice]

i can handle Zed, i just hat Oh

[Gravekeeper]

i can handle Zed, i just hat Oh

<shrug> she was a wench but if you ask for zip code, we'll give you a postal code out of habit. Americans do the same thing when I ask them for a postal code, they give me a zip code.

But we do tend to say "O" in some parts of Canada for postal codes because we're familiar with the order of letters and numbers. So we know which O's are letters and which are zeros... -.-

[bigjimaz]

I wish my 6th grade math teacher was able to teach the whole world. One of the things I remember her instilling in all of us was that the letter 'O' is not a zero. If you dared say something like "one million is a one followed by 6 'Oh's'" she would first ream you a new one then mark a demerit in her little red book. Still to this day, some 43 years later, I still say zero. Yes, it takes longer to say, especially since I got my social security card (which has 4 zeroes), but never has anyone confused any number that I have ever said. Thank you Mrs. Gribble.

Actually this is one of my pet peeves. I hate when I hear anyone use any combination of these:

One, two, free (or tree), foe (or fer), fie, sex (or seeks), sebm, Aay (pronounced as if Fonzie was saying it), nye, tin.

[Gravekeeper]

I'm not sure why it's "O" instead of zero in some places up here. It seems to be a regional particularity. The odd part is I only hear it when applied to postal codes, phone numbers, addresses and credit cards.

For actual math or anything related to money its still "zero".

Though in my defense I do say "zero". But I'm a call center slave.

( and it is pronounced ZED. Not Zee, ZED! ^^ )

[Ghengis51]

I take credit cards over the phone to pay for classes. I've gotten in the habit of always saying zero instead of oh when i read it back to them. Even though you really don't need to since it's all numbers, it seems people can understand it better.

And though I'm american, zed wouldn't throw me off thanks to Stargate: Atlantis.

[Stormraven]

I wish my 6th grade math teacher was able to teach the whole world. One of the things I remember her instilling in all of us was that the letter 'O' is not a zero. If you dared say something like "one million is a one followed by 6 'Oh's'" she would first ream you a new one then mark a demerit in her little red book. Still to this day, some 43 years later, I still say zero. Yes, it takes longer to say, especially since I got my social security card (which has 4 zeroes), but never has anyone confused any number that I have ever said. Thank you Mrs. Gribble.

Actually this is one of my pet peeves. I hate when I hear anyone use any combination of these:

One, two, free (or tree), foe (or fer), fie, sex (or seeks), sebm, Aay (pronounced as if Fonzie was saying it), nye, tin.

When I was in the military, for radio-speak, we were taught to say 'tree' instead of 'three', as it came across more clearly. Similarly, we used 'fife' instead of 'five'. I don't recall if we used 'oh' or zero, but 'oh' wouldn't have been confusing, since protocol for the letter O would be to say 'Oscar'.

I still tend to follow that protocol even now.

[Arcade Man D]

Ah, the good old phonetic alphabet.

But I tend to use "naught" for zeroes. Completely unconfusing.

[Gravekeeper]

Ah, the good old phonetic alphabet.

But I tend to use "naught" for zeroes. Completely unconfusing.

That would be horrifically confusing. Unless I'm missing cleverly concealed sarcasm. -.-

"Yes, the postal code is V naught J-"
"So it's V....and?"
"No, V naught J"
"....V....? What's the rest?"
"V naught J!"

Yeah, that would CSR inspire rage.

[Arcade Man D]

That would be horrifically confusing. Unless I'm missing cleverly concealed sarcasm. -.-

"Yes, the postal code is V naught J-"
"So it's V....and?"
"No, V naught J"
"....V....? What's the rest?"
"V naught J!"

Yeah, that would CSR inspire rage.

I live near New England. It's actually used around here, believe it or not >.>

[Bright_Star]

Believe it or not there is a HUGE difference with saying "Zero" as opposed to saying "OH"(as in the letter O". BUT nasty idiots don't see that so they think it's one & the same.

[Becks]

"Yes, the postal code is V naught J-"
"So it's V....and?"
"No, V naught J"
"....V....? What's the rest?"
"V naught J!"

Sounds like part of an Abbot and Costello routine.

[PepperElf]

Yay! My first post! (short time lurking here & liked it enough to sign up!)


Postal Code vs Zip Code... never really thought about them as being different. I mean I knew that other countries had different formats than the US, but I've always taken both phrases to mean pretty much the same thing...

However...eh, it's probably just me... but I've been saying "zero" instead of "oh" for a long time now.
(mil service does that to you)

[CorDarei]

I got one word.... Repeated: (phonetic spelling)

Toe-may-toe
toe-mah-toe

So dont tell me how to pronounce the letter z.

Furthermore, some ppl can't pronouce the h in three