[Idiom] How to speak the numbers in license plate

[kevin_von]

One of my friends ask me a question as follow:

When watching the movie ANOTHER 48 HOURS
he found that a policeman read the numbers "DS9" in licence plate of a car as "David Sam Niner" instead of the normal pronouciation [di:] [es] [nai]

He insisted that there is a special ruler or habit for the native speakers on the 10 figures and 26 letters.

Could you please explain it for me ?

PS: Personnaly I think it is not a strict rule but just a habit for this very policeman or this very city .
I think all the policmen can unstanderd what you think if you just read the numbers in its original pronouciation.

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by kevin_von

One of my friends ask me a question as follow:

When watching the movie ANOTHER 48 HOURS
he found that a policeman read the numbers "DS9" in licence plate of a car as "David Sam Niner" instead of the normal pronouciation [di:] [es] [nai]

He insisted that there is a special ruler or habit for the native speakers on the 10 figures and 26 letters.

Could you please explain it for me ?

PS: Personnaly I think it is not a strict rule but just a habit for this very policeman or this very city .
I think all the policmen can unstanderd what you think if you just read the numbers in its original pronouciation.

The Wikipedia article on so-called "phonetic alphabets" explains this sort of thing quite well.

[kevin_von]

THANKS!

I've found the number 9 can be read as niner but it seems that there is no rule on "david"insted of [di:] , or "sam"instead of [es]

Another question is whether it is a only mandatory rule for policmen or army ?

It seems that it is unneccesary for ordinary people to use such kind of produciation .

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by kevin_von

THANKS!

I've found the number 9 can be read as niner but it seems that there is no rule on "david"insted of [di:] , or "sam"instead of [es]

There would be if you followed the page to here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAPD_phonetic_alphabet

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by kevin_von

THANKS!

I've found the number 9 can be read as niner but it seems that there is no rule on "david"insted of [di:] , or "sam"instead of [es]

Another question is whether it is a only mandatory rule for policmen or army ?

It seems that it is unneccesary for ordinary people to use such kind of produciation .

The NATO system is pretty much the de facto international standard, as it is widely used in civilian aviation as well. I am not in the military, the police, or aviation, but still use the system a lot, especially over the telephone. It removes any ambiguity or uncertainty when spelling out words and numbers. This is particularly helpful when I am talking with people who may have trouble with my accent. The way New Zealanders pronounce the vowel sounds in English is VERY confusing for pretty muxh anybody outside of NZ and Australia, so in conversations with service providers in other countries, I find myself using the NATO system a great deal to make myself clearly understood.

[kevin_von]

THANK YOU!Now it is clear for me.For us , the ordinary people , we can choose the way we prefer to , as long as there is no misunderstanding by listening.As a policeman and the like , he or she need to be obey the rule.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by kevin_von

THANK YOU!Now it is clear for me.For us , the ordinary people , we can choose the way we prefer to , as long as there is no misunderstanding by listening.As a policeman and the like , he or she need to be obey the rule.

I suppose this phrase would extend to the people who work in Vehicle Registration (with whom I worked in 1971). But then there was no rule except to make yourself clear. I remember one man who used books of the Bible, Leviticus Isaiah Kings Ezechiel this.

b

[Ouisch]

"Niner" is often used for the numeral nine over the radio because when the word "nine" spoken it can be mistaken for "five."

In the US, most police departments use a standardized phonetic alphabet, again because over the radio "D" might sound like "P" or "B", and it's easier to say "Adam Ocean Ida" instead of "A as in Apple, O as in Ocean, I as in Idaho...."