Hey its not my fault you cant state your info

[blas]

I always say zero, I've never understood the logic of saying "oh" instead. I mean, zero is a number after all.

It doesn't bother me when people do it, though.

[simplyanother]

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.

Around here, one of the cities has the zip code 12305*. When I have to ask customers for their zip, I can usually identify the people who are military by the way they say their zip--- Locals (or that is, locals who haven't been in the Navy, there are about 5 of us, I think)...say "oh" for the zero. Military folk tend to "zero" for zero. (Er, not that has anything to do with what you've posted, other than you mentioned the military.

It's not confusing here, because..well, there aren't any letters in the zips.

My grandmother uses naught for zeros sometimes, she's also 83. I remember being really confused as a child, because no one bothered to tell me.

Zed for Zee.... It's fitting. Zee doesn't "sound" like a good alphabet ender. Zed-- does. Has that D sound that means STOP! This is the end. Though, I will admit, it would throw me to hear it.

No, there isn't a huge difference in saying "zero" and "oh" but if you're used to saying it one way, training yourself to say it the other way is hard. I've said the zips from the local city 123"oh"4 for nearly 30 years.


*yah, obviously not the real zip. I've learned from batshit crazy customers, giving you a zip means I'll be able to track you down to your home and ...send you evil coupons!

[chops]

Our town's zip code is 05060...with all those zeroes in it, "oh-five-oh-six-oh" rolls off the tongue so much easier.

[Zeeko]

When I am writing contact info (usually email addresses) by hand my zeros always have a diagonal line through them so they don't look like O's or o's, when they are in fact 0's. Confusion attack!

[BookstoreEscapee]

When I am writing contact info (usually email addresses) by hand my zeros always have a diagonal line through them so they don't look like O's or o's, when they are in fact 0's. Confusion attack!

I do that, too, where zeros and Os are mixed together, but when writing a phone number or zip code, I don't bother with the line.

In my area all the zip codes start with 0...I almost always say "Oh" instead of Zero.

Just wondering, how is "Zee" any different as a letter from Bee, Cee, Dee, Eee, Gee, Pee, Tee, and Vee?

[Broomjockey]

A chesterfield IS a couch!

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

I love that commercial. Hurts the brains of my foreign friends when I explain just how big a phenomenon that thing was.

And yeah, I'll do the "oh" thing, but only if I'm dealing purely in numbers, with someone who sounds Canadian, otherwise I automatically switch to using "zero." I learned to keep as many regional variances and colloquialisms out of my speech if I'm unsure of the other person's familiarity. Just polite, and tends to speed things up. It's a pain with my Visa number though. The thing has 7 zeros in it. Not including expiry.

[Fiyero]

I work at a call centre and all reference numbers start 0000. For 0 we often get 'zero', 'naught' and 'oh', often 'triple oh' (there are 4 not 3!) and people asking do we need the 4 0s!

The most annoying by far are the ones that say "nothink nothink nothink nothink". ARGH!

This is in England and 'oh' is common for phone numbers especially, and post codes follow a set format. I am glad I don't have to take email addresses.

[MisseLaneius]

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

Sounds like you hate New Zealanders then... Its standard to have Sex and Siven. But its just the accent..

In my job we do a lot of Car registration plates (or Licence Plates) and in my state they are three letters then three numbers. So someone will say something like...

ESS ENN EMM.

Me: So that's S for Sierra, N for November, M for Mike.
SC: No, EMM.
Me: EMM? (I still can't hear because of backround noise/distortion on the line)
SC: EMM.
Me: Can you repeat the whole rego again? Using words so I can hear you?
SC: ESS ENN EMM.
Me: Can you give me words to go with them? I can't understand you, its a bad line.
SC: F for Frog, N for No one, M for Mickey Mouse.
Me: Oh, ok, thanks.

Even worse is when you clarify it with them a few times, and they ask you to confirm it at the end of the call. And change it. Because they weren't listening.

[myswtghst]

ESS ENN EMM.

Is it bad that I giggled when I read SNM....and my brain went S&M.