Let me spell it out for you.
An Australian woman has gone viral after realizing she discovered the Phonetic alphabet by accident after calling the police about stolen property.
The video, which was posted on TikTok Sunday, features Emily Brogan talking at blazing speed about her amazing discovery.
“Please tell me I’m not the only one that didn’t know the Phonetic alphabet existed until a couple of days ago,” said the astonished woman. “Had to ringa-ding-ding the coppers (cops) to ask for an update on the stolen bag, update, she’s long gone.”
The Australian-turned-Londoner revealed that while she was on the phone with her local police department she was forced to spell out her last name due to the weak cell service.
“B for Big, R for Ranga, O for Over and G for Good — so on so forth,” she recalled.
It was then the person on the phone asked the woman to confirm her address which Brogan did.
“She comes back with, you know, confirming my address and all this stuff, going ‘F for Foxtrot X for X-ray,” said the woman.
According to Brogan, her roommate then commented on how good she was at using the Phonetic alphabet.
“My flatmate goes, ‘Wow she’s really good at the Phonetic alphabet,” said Brogan who added that she had no idea what she said and didn’t have time to ask any follow-up questions as she was still on the phone.
After the call, Brogan said that she immediately went to Google and typed in the words and the answer left her speechless.
“It’s called the Phonetic alphabet that’s a legitimate thing that people know and learn,” gushed Brogan. “What the f–k, mind is blown!”
According to the woman, it was something she had always done subconsciously.
“I just say whatever is around me,” Brogan said. “So if I’m at the Zoo I’ll be like okay Z for Zebra, G for Giraffe, E for Elephant.”
“I’m like s–t how do they come up with stuff on the spot so quickly, it’s cause it’s a f–king Phonetic alphabet. I feel so dumb,” continued the woman.
The video, which is captioned “I feel like this is common knowledge and I somehow missed this,” has been viewed 755,100 times as of Wednesday.
Since being posted, several TikTokers were shocked by the revelation.
“I thought people just came up with random words,” said one amazed user.
“If I have to do anything phonetically I panic and just choose random words,” a second person laughed.
“Who else was today years old when they learnt this,” said a third person.
One user revealed the person Brogan was speaking to was actually using the NATO alphabet, which primarily is used by military organizations.
According to Speechify, the NATO alphabet is primarily used “to help people communicate via radio more easily and prevent miscommunication.”
Each initial letter of the 26 words within the NATO alphabet corresponds to the 26 letters of the English alphabet.
Brogan responded that it “just proves my point more.”
