Alphabet words...

For much of my adult life I always used the same old words as replacements for letters when reciting long serial numbers or VINs over poor phone connections. For instance, “A as in apple, B as in boy, C as in Charlie,” etc. It got tedious. So I came up with my own list of alphabet words to use in those circumstances. This was a fun little project as many of these words are some of my favorites.

A – absinthe, alabaster,

B – bullcrap, bipartisanship, belligerent,
     bituminous,

C – chicanery, caterwaul, catheter, crackpot,
     clobber, chortle

D – dreadful, dismal, debacle

E – eunuch, ecclesiastical, epiphany

F – falderal, fatalistic, fisticuffs, frolic

G – gastropod, gorgonzola, gallivant, grotto,
     grimace

H – hoodwink, hideous, haggard, haphazard,
     highfalutin, hullaballoo

I – inconceivable, ignominious, irascible, ilk

J – jibber, juxtapose, jettison, juggernaut

K – kiosk, kibosh

L – lurk, languish, lollygag, lunatic

M – malarkey, malevolent, malodorous, moniker,
     maudlin

N – nincompoop, nocturnal, nebula, nitpick,
     newfangled

O – odious, oratorical, opulent

P – platypus, proton, porous

Q – quarantine, quixotic, quorum

R – rapscallion, ramshackle, rube,

S – skullduggery, scurry, scapegoat, skedaddle,

T – tommyrot, tomfoolery, tout, treacle,

U – Underdog, urchin

V – villain, vaudeville, Vesuvius

W – Whippersnapper, whirligig, whatchamacallit

X – xenophobe, the X-chromosome

Y – yammer, yonder, yin-yang

Z – zilch, zoinks

The problem, of course, is that it helps when the person on the other end of the phone conversation is a good speller. For instance, catheter and caterwaul sound like they could start with the letter “K”. And xenophobe sounds like it could start with “Z”. You get the picture.

To carry it a bit further, this could come in handy if you want to confuse people. You could recite the serial number 59PXPG as follows: “Five. Niner. Pneumonia. Xenon. Photograph. Gnome.”

Go ahead and come up with your own list of words. Why? Because it’s nice to be able to throw out a curveball every once in a while. You might even be able to come up with the name of a blog from your own list of favorite words.