Also called a spelling alphabet or a phonetic alphabet, (not to be confused with the entirely different International Phonetic Alphabet,) this is a system of assigning to each letter of the alphabet a word that begins with that letter. This way, if something has to be spelled over a radio, telephone, etc. there is much less chance of the wrong information being transmitted.

The military, police departments and radio operators all make frequent use of this. Phone-based customer service and technical support also use it, but with more informal construction (any word will do), for the same reasons. The most common alphabets are shown below, from A to Z.

LetterNATOWestern Union
AAlphaAdams
BBravoBoston
CCharlieChicago
DDeltaDenver
EEchoEasy
FFoxtrotFrank
GGolfGeorge
HHotelHenry
IIndiaIda
JJulietJohn
KKiloKing
LLimaLincoln
MMikeMary
NNovemberNew York
OOscarOcean
PPapaPeter
QQuebecQueen
RRomeoRoger
SSierraSugar
TTangoThomas
UUniformUnion
VVictorVictor
WWhiskeyWilliam
XX-rayX-ray
YYankeeYoung
ZZuluZero