XPost: alt.folklore.computers   
   From: commodorejohn@gmail.com   
      
   On Wed, 07 Jan 2026 06:33:45 GMT   
   Charlie Gibbs  wrote:   
      
   > > Seems plausible - may also have to do with phone-tree systems and   
   > > how intelligible "hash" is or isn't over a muffled line, vs. a word   
   > > that begins and ends with hard consonants.   
   >   
   > I hadn't thought of that angle.  Indeed, aeronautical radio   
   > phraseology has evolved to deal with just that sort of problem.   
      
   Many's the time I've had to resort to the NATO phonetic alphabet when   
   trying to get a customer to type something in over the phone.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)