[Letter] as in [expletive]
A lot of letters sound alike. “B” sounds like “C” sounds like “D.” “M” sounds like “N.” And so on.
Of course, when reading a string of letters, it helps to use a word instead of the letter. “‘B’ as in…” type of thing.
Anyway, I thought I’d just point out that whenever I do this, it always takes me a nice long while to come up with a non-profane word. I’m talking to the call center operator and it’s “B as in… uh… basketball.” “P as in… um, P as in pesticide.”
And don’t get all holier-than-thou on me either, Reverend. I’m pretty sure you do it too. (For pure efficiency’s sake, and a little cool factor too, I guess we could all convert to the NATO phonetic alphabet—”alpha, bravo, charlie.”)