speaking long numbers

phone and credit card and UPS tracking numbers and such.

do you recite each digit in sequence like "four-zero-two-seven"? do you break it up into two digit numbers like "forty-twenty-seven"?

I don't read any numbers aloud because I sit in an open-plan office. :/

digit in sequence

is this a trick to get my credit card number?

I recite each number. I find it confusing sometimes when ppl do it the other way tbh.

i generally speak each digit, as it is less confusing and uses fewer syllables.

hate when ppl break it into two-digit numbers. i usually say "zero" instead of "oh" too

I used to say "O" but now try to make myself say "zero".

the two digit thing can sometimes be a helpful mnemonic but not always!

what's wrong with 'oh'? it sounds like an interruption? "four five five oh wait my dog's just jumped out the window"

is there a word for "two-digit"? my brane is fried right now

i catch myself saying "oh" as part of my area code (401) but then saying "zero" for the other 0's in my phone number

two-digit iirc xp

maybe we can use this thread for letter clarification tactics for alphanumeric sequences and name spelling

r as in robert
v as in victor

i catch myself saying "oh" as part of my area code (401) but then saying "zero" for the other 0's in my phone number

― elmo leonard (elmo argonaut), Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:38 AM (2 minutes ago)

oh wow i just realized i do this too

V as in Victor is my favorite because I have to say it every time I spell my last name! Otherwise everyone hears "B".

common names are best i think for this, though sometimes I get the old military dudes on the phone who get all alpha-bravo-charlie

Ah, I thought this thread would be about saying high-quantity numbers out loud, such as "one hundred twenty one million, three hundred twenty three thousand, one hundred and twelve." IMO doing this in German is hilarious. I have a dumb sense of humor.

abbott if someone tried to give me their credit card number in that format i would probably hang up

it gets confusing sometimes. like if someone says "one hundred seventeen" do they mean 117? or 10017?

Whenever I do the "letter as in word" thing, I say the stupidest shit and embarrass myself to the phone person. One time I included both "f as in friend" and "c as in confidante" and was like 'wtf brane why you only giving me Golden Girls words here, I sound like a goon.'

i have heard worse abbott.

"n as in neat"
"d as in door"
"b as in best"
these are no help, no help at all

There's a funny bit in an Anne Fadiman essay about spelling her name on the phone for someone and them still getting it wrong. I can't remember it, though.

That album of Ned reciting pi to thread.