Alphabet psychology

[kitanzi]

Sometimes I wonder about people. It's common, when someone asks you for some string of characters over the phone that include letters and there's confusion about exactly what letter you mean, to give a word to represent the letter. You know, A as in apple, or C as in cat.

Those are common enough, but sometimes the choices are more interesting. I don't mean using Alpha-Bravo-Charlie military style, or common names for letters (most commonly boys names, don't know why), but more unusual stuff like months, vehicles, animals, food, or flowers. Sometimes I amuse myself by wondering if these odd choices show any deep, free-associative meaning into people's psyches, but I suppose that study would have to be done by someone with more free time and a knack for writing grant applications!

I don't think anyone's come up with anything obscene in these when talking with me, but it's occasionally amusing when they get entirely confused and give words that don't even have the letter they're trying to do. ("A as in cat, C as in... oops!")

(If you're getting the impression this is a slow, dull day and I'm getting my entertainment where I can - well, you're right!).

Comments

Re:

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Uh huh.... yep. So what do you suggest for X?

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the delay. Had to ask my X-word contact person. SAW reminds me that is:
X is for Xiphoid Process (the very tip of the breast bone)

(Ok, so it's a stretch. So is using Z is for Zerbert or Y is for You, both of which work *just fine* in the Home Game.) -H...