The Italian Phonetic Alphabet

I used to have an ex-boyfriend who was never in the military but admired those who've served and were serving our country. He used to love watching old war movies and enjoyed history quite a bit. Through him I learned the American Phonetic or Military Alphabet; which is used quite frequently in military movies and spy films. It is also useful in all kinds of situations like reciting your drivers lic.#, an airline reservation, anything that has a mix of letters. I find myself using it quite a bit.

Here it is:

Alpha Bravo Charlie Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India
Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo
Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey X-ray Yankee Zulu

What I did not know what that the Italians have a similar thing. Last week, I heard Deme talking to a postal customer service representative. A package that my sister in the States mailed to me just never arrived and I wanted to file a complaint. The USPS website says it arrived in Italy but it stuck in limbo somewhere. As he rattled off my name, my sisters’ name and her address; I heard him using the Italian Phonetic alphabet. (Most of the words are derived from Italian cities)

My name (using this alphabet) is:

Genova, Imola, Ancona (GIA)

Padova, Ancona, Roma, Savona, Otranto, Napoli, Savona (PARSONS)

Both alphabets are quite useful as Italians have a difficult time spelling American words, for example Nashville and Americans can't even fathom Corso Vittorio Emmanuele. Ha! Ha! I better learn the Italian one, pronta!

Here it is:

Ancona, Bologna, Como, Domodossola, Empoli, Firenze, Genova,
Hacca, Imola, Jolly, Kappa, Livorno, Milano, Napoli,
Otranto, Pisa/Palermo, Quartomiglio, Roma, Savona/Siena,
Torino, Udine, Venezia, Wagner, Xilofono, York, Zara

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