Do you speak letters?

[Alpo]

You know like, actually saying LOL, or OMG. I was just looking at a YouTube video where the guy said that he was shooting a 22LR.

 

I would have said I was shooting a 22. Maybe if I really wanted to be precise I would say it was a 22 long rifle. But saying a 22LR?

 

I see more and more people writing initials. Like they either don't have the time or the finger strength to type out the entire word.

 

But when they say it???

 

 

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

If they say it, it is because they dont know what it means.

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

I suppose you are lucky he didnt try to pronounce "LR" as "lurr".

[John Kloehr]

I say twenty two ell arr. Completely different cartridge from two two three.

 

Been thinking about a plate for my truck. How would you say:

 

[Eyesa Horg]

44-40 😁

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

A guy on TV explaining a crime kept referriing to a nine hundred eleven phone call....and he gets paid a lot to show his stupidity and the stupidity of whoever hires him.

[Three Foot Johnson]

A lot of YouTube videos use AI voiceovers and the technology just isn't quite there yet. Things like a "one zero millimeter pistol" or a "one nine one one pistol" are a couple examples.

[Pat Riot]

1 hour ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

A lot of YouTube videos use AI voiceovers and the technology just isn't quite there yet. Things like a "one zero millimeter pistol" or a "one nine one one pistol" are a couple examples.

I have heard this. Yep, it was AI narrated. 

[Pat Riot]

A guy at our .22 Benchrest match was talking and actually said “LOL” as in “ell oh ell” when he finished a sentence. Everyone, including me, stared at him without saying a word. He made some excuse about checking his thingamabob on his doo-hickey and went outside. Then we all laughed. 
He hasn’t done it since and as far as I know it hasn’t been brought up and no one talks about it. 

[John Kloehr]

I can at least understand ell oh ell but no reason to ever say double ewe tee eff. If I heard the second, I might just ell oh ell.

 

Oh kay, oh kay, 10,000 comedians out of work and I'm trying to be funny; I'll let myself out.

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

Browning B A R- say the letters

 

 

[Alpo]

10 minutes ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

Browning B A R- say the letters

 

 

A Browning Browning automatic rifle? That's right up there with an automatic teller machine machine or personal identification number number.

 

It's simply a B A R.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I think I’ve heard “lol” once or. Twice.

[Rye Miles #13621]

Never heard anyone actually say lol! If I did I’d ask”Are you weird or on drugs?”🙄

[Trailrider #896]

How about abbreviations? As in "7.62 mike-mike"? Or "klicks" for kilometers? Can you spell your name phonetically?  As in "Tango, Romeo, Alpha, India, Lima, Romeo, India, Delta, Echo, Romeo"?  

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

14 minutes ago, Trailrider #896 said:

How about abbreviations? As in "7.62 mike-mike"? Or "klicks" for kilometers? Can you spell your name phonetically?  As in "Tango, Romeo, Alpha, India, Lima, Romeo, India, Delta, Echo, Romeo"?  

Using the Phonetic Alphabet is a totally different creature. It's a way to let somebody else know exactly what letter you mean, and is the complete opposite of the lazy abbreviation culture people use to text on their D&MN phones because they can't be bothered to actually speak to somebody.

For the most part, the only reasons I can see texting would be better than talking would be texting an address or directions to someplace. Something on that order. (Yes, I know I'm a borderline luddite.) 

[Subdeacon Joe]

.22LR is pronounced "twenty-two long rifle."

 

LOL, will be rendered in some version of,  "There I was, laughing my butt off."

 

OMG, said as "oh em gee" I will only use at home. On consideration, I rarely use the phrase,  either. 

 

As the good Sergeant says,  the Phonetic Alphabet is a different critter.  I usually resort to it for spelling my surname for someone,  especially over the phone, "lima-oscar-VICTOR....." Also for my email address,  "sierra-union-BRAVO-DELTA...."

 

 

[Calamity Kris]

We are required to have hands free text readers/writers in our vehicles.  I learned the hard way that I must clearly pronounce my words as well as add punctuation and spelling.  A couple of examples I sent are:

 

I'm leaving work do you want me to stop at the store on my way home did you grab the mail do I need to message your brother about the gathering or have you done it already hope you had a good day.

 

{I usually send Uno a message when I'm leaving the office, OMWH -  On my way home.)  I tried to send that message by voice and it came out as "Oh emm doubleU H".  He replied with "LOL".  It took me a minute to figure out what happened. 

 

We had a funny exchange a while back that is a great example of the pitfalls of text readers.

 

I messaged him that I was going make a stop after work

 

K - I'm going to stop at the mall on the way home to pick up some socks.

U - "Y"

{Now my text reader read it as "WHY"}

K - Because I need to pick up some athletic socks for the walk tomorrow.

U - "Y"

K -  Because the socks I have are full of holes.

U - "Y"

K - I promise not to buy expensive ones.

U - "Y"

After the last  message, I thought why do I have to defend buying a pair of socks.  I reached for the phone to call him when I read the messages....... When he arrived at the house, he asked why I got so upset about his messages.  When I explained how the text reader recited them, we both fell over laughing.  You see, his car is an older stick shift so it's much easier for him to press the letter "Y" and hit send.  Now when I message him, he sends "Y" with a smiley emoji and that's how my car reads it to me "Y with a smiley emoji"

[John Kloehr]

13 minutes ago, Calamity Kris said:

We are required to have hands free text readers/writers in our vehicles.  I learned the hard way that I must clearly pronounce my words as well as add punctuation and spelling.  A couple of examples I sent are:

 

I'm leaving work do you want me to stop at the store on my way home did you grab the mail do I need to message your brother about the gathering or have you done it already hope you had a good day.

 

{I usually send Uno a message when I'm leaving the office, OMWH -  On my way home.)  I tried to send that message by voice and it came out as "Oh emm doubleU H".  He replied with "LOL".  It took me a minute to figure out what happened. 

 

We had a funny exchange a while back that is a great example of the pitfalls of text readers.

 

I messaged him that I was going make a stop after work

 

K - I'm going to stop at the mall on the way home to pick up some socks.

U - "Y"

{Now my text reader read it as "WHY"}

K - Because I need to pick up some athletic socks for the walk tomorrow.

U - "Y"

K -  Because the socks I have are full of holes.

U - "Y"

K - I promise not to buy expensive ones.

U - "Y"

After the last  message, I thought why do I have to defend buying a pair of socks.  I reached for the phone to call him when I read the messages....... When he arrived at the house, he asked why I got so upset about his messages.  When I explained how the text reader recited them, we both fell over laughing.  You see, his car is an older stick shift so it's much easier for him to press the letter "Y" and hit send.  Now when I message him, he sends "Y" with a smiley emoji and that's how my car reads it to me "Y with a smiley emoji"

Read once someone told Siri to "text my wife that I love her."

 

Siri sent his wife: "I love her."

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

DOD - Department of Defense

TV - television

SMG- submachine gun

VA - Veterans Administration

VFW - Veterans of Foreign Wars

SAA - Single Action Army

NP - Nickel plated

USA

ACP

MP - Military Police (Military Police but Shore Patrol is Shore Patrol

S&W

PX - Post Exchange

KP - Kitchen Police

TDY - Temporary Duty 

TAD _ Marine version of TDY

FBI, CIA, DoD, DOJ and a thousand other money pits

SOS - not the emergency "help me" code but the breakfast delight in all the mess halls I've ever visited

SPAM - stands for SH-- POSING AS MEAT

POS _ y'all know what the stands for

Klicks - a unit of measurement

DOT -Department of Transportation

ADOT _ Arizona's DOT

 

I'm partial to KMA  ("keep me advised"...or so one 2LT was told).

There are certainly more.

 

[Alpo]

6 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Can you spell your name phonetically?  As in "Tango, Romeo, Alpha, India, Lima, Romeo, India, Delta, Echo, Romeo"?  

[Dapper Dave]

On 9/24/2025 at 12:08 PM, Pat Riot said:

A guy at our .22 Benchrest match was talking and actually said “LOL” as in “ell oh ell” when he finished a sentence. Everyone, including me, stared at him without saying a word. He made some excuse about checking his thingamabob on his doo-hickey and went outside. Then we all laughed. 
He hasn’t done it since and as far as I know it hasn’t been brought up and no one talks about it. 

Once my son said it like a word, "Lawl", just like that. I asked what in the Wide World of Sports he was talking about and he explained...I told him to step away from the computer for a while...

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 9/24/2025 at 12:39 PM, Alpo said:

A Browning Browning automatic rifle? That's right up there with an automatic teller machine machine or personal identification number number.

 

It's simply a B A R.

I disagree.  In my years in uniform I heard them called many things, mostly not to be used in polite company, but they were usually called Brownings or BARs...as if JMB never made anything else

[Stump Water]

19 hours ago, Calamity Kris said:

I usually send Uno a message when I'm leaving the office, OMWH -  On my way home

 

When employed I would text Camille OTW - On the way.   Then it went the other way - I started sending it phonetically:  "Oatey Dubya".  Then that morphed into just "Oatey".

 

When I was in ROTC, way before texting even existed, some would refer to someone as LT or CDR.  As in, "Good morning LT."  Are Lieutenant & Commander that hard to say?

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Stump Water said:

Are Lieutenant & Commander that hard to say?

I noticed on the TV show Castle, that the corner would never say that so and so was shot. They would always say GSW to the chest, or GSW to the head, or GSW to the wherever.

 

Kind of thought that was stupid.

 

Then on an episode of NCIS Palmer is in the morgue talking to Gibbs. He says "GSW", and then he hesitates a moment and says, "did you know it takes longer to say GSW than it does to say gunshot wound? Gunshot wound is three syllables and GSW is five."

 

But GSW sounds so much more impressive. Just like LT sounds so much more impressive than lieutenant.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On 9/26/2025 at 9:19 AM, Stump Water said:

RWhen employed I would text Camille OTW - On the way.   Then it went the other way - I started sending it phonetically:  "Oatey Dubya".  Then that morphed into just "Oatey".

 

When I was in ROTC, way before texting even existed, some would refer to someone as LT or CDR.  As in, "Good morning LT."  Are Lieutenant & Commander that hard to say?

When I was in high school ROTC and later in college ROTC I would not have dared do that.  Master Sergeants Martin and Woolums would have peeled me like a banana.

 

Master Sergeant Martin introduced us to the bayonet on n M-1 rifle before beginning the actual lecture by saying "Today you will learn a last ditch skill.  If ever I hear of you using a bayonet on a rifle when you have even one round of ammunition left I will find you if I have to return form the grave and I will peel you like a banana.  Shall we continue?" 

 

I admired the man but he still scared the hell out of me...until my second year when he started treating us like "young gentlemen."