NATO Phonetic Alphabet 101 Trivia Quiz

Answer: alpha

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet starts out similar to the Greek. This is one of only two similarities you'll see. Although, in almost all versions of the alphabet outside the United States, "alFa" is used, so as to avoid mispronunciation.

Answer: bravo

I still have a hard time not continuing with "beta..." However, using words to represent each letter of the alphabet, the first internationally recognized version was adopted in 1927. Several changes were made with different phonetics over the years, until 1956, when the final, current version was adopted.

Answer: charlie

Still at the beginning of the alphabet, you'll hear "charlie" used quite a bit, such as in "Charlie company."

Although adopted in practice earlier, the alphabet was first published in the 1959 "Radio Regulations" as an established alphabet.

Answer: delta

Alpha and Delta are the only two letters you'll see in both the NATO Phonetic Alphabet and Greek.

Answer: echo

When choosing the words to use for the alphabet, its authors took care to choose sounds that would not easily be mistaken for another letter. Thus, none of the words in the alphabet rhyme with one another.

Answer: foxtrot

All words used in the phonetic alphabet have strict pronunciations. Care was taken in the selection of words so that rarely will these pronunciations be affected by regional accents.

Answer: golf

Golf is one of only two single-syllable alphabet words in the alphabet.

Answer: hotel

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet was developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Answer: india

"India" is the only word used that refers to a country.

Answer: juliett

One might think that "Juliet" is tribute to Shakespeare. However, this phonetic entry is written as "Juliett", with a double T, as in many European cultures, a single "t" at the end of the word might render that "t" silent.

Answer: kilo

Kilo offers an interesting blending of the alphabet with math and measurements. It seems it could be confusing if you were mixing the two in a statement.

Answer: lima

Interestingly, Lima is pronounced not like the bean, but as in the city in Peru.

Answer: mike

Mike is one of only two one-syllable phonetic words in this alphabet.

As a military Air Traffic Controller, the standard for assigning a call sign for each controller was to choose the first and last letters of your last name. My last name was MaY, however, we already had a MurphY, so instead I chose my first initials from both first and last name, and picked up the call sign of "Mike Mike".

Answer: november

The purpose of the phonetic alphabet is to avoid having to explain letters that may sound alike. For instance, "N" is often mistaken for "M", and "B" can be mistaken for "V" or even "P".

Answer: oscar

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet has been adopted by several agencies, including the FAA (Federal Aviation Administation), IMO (International Maritime Organization), ITU (International Telecommunication Union), ANSI (American National Standards Institute), and ARRL (American Radio Relay League).

Answer: papa

With the current trend as of the early 2000s of military-related persons in primetime television programming, it has become more commonplace to hear civilians using words from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet rather than hearing phrases such as "A as in Apple" or "B as in Bob".

Answer: quebec

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet is actually considered a subset of the International Code of Signals (INTERCO), which includes flag, light and sound signals representing many phrases.

Answer: romeo

Romeo is one of five entries in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet represented by a man's name.

Answer: sierra

Both British and American military forces used a different phonetic alphabet set prior to adopting the NATO Phonetic Alphabet in 1956. There were five distinctly different phonetic alphabets between those two nations: the United States version, the RAF versions (one each of pre- and post-WWII), the Royal Navy version, and WWI "slang" from the Western Front.

Answer: tango

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet also designates standardized pronunciations of numbers 0 through 9. The number five is replaced by the phonetic word "Fife," while nine is replaced with "Niner." Both of these replacements help with recognition ease while numbers and letters are being quickly read.

Answer: uniform

The alphabet's common name (NATO Phonetic Alphabet) arose because it appears in Allied Tactical Publication ATP-1, Volume II: "Allied Maritime Signal and Maneuvering Book" used by all allied navies in NATO. Because code words were used to spell out messages by voice, it became the "Phonetic Alphabet".

Answer: victor

The FOX Television series "Dollhouse", which began in 2008, uses the NATO Phonetic Alphabet to name each of the Actives on the show.

Answer: whiskey

Although all US Military groups use the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, many police agencies around the country have their own phonetic alphabets. The NYPD stands out as having a well-recognized phonetic alphabet of its own.

Answer: yankee

I have found that knowing the NATO Phonetic Alphabet can come in handy when doing things such as calling tech support for anything that may require reading out a serial or identification number. Reading "Sierra Tango 234 Charlie 689" is much faster than reading "S like Sam, T like Tom, 234, C like Charlie, 689."

Answer: zulu

Interestingly enough, in all the five previous US/UK phonetic alphabets, Z was represented by "Zebra."