Do you pronounce the "0" in phone numbers as "owe" or "zero"?

Dionysus

Does anybody in the country say "zero" when calling out a phone number with the number "0"?

Everybody I hear says "owe" , as in "owe eight seven...". Now, I would still be saying "owe" but for one of those really annoying machines which didn't recognise the number when I spoke out the number '0' as 'owe'. It finally dawned on me, after effin' and blindin' the individual who created the voice recognition in question, that 'owe' is correctly pronounced as 'zero'.


So, is the number '0' still pronounced the same as the letter 'o' when you call out a telephone number?


Yeah, this distinction is probably one of those things which only somebody with too much free time on his/her hands would have noticed!

stupidusername

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

Dionysus wrote: »

Does anybody in the country say "zero" when calling out a phone number with the number "0"?

Everybody I hear says "owe" , as in "owe eight seven...". Now, I would still be saying "owe" but for one of those really annoying machines which didn't recognise the number when I spoke out the number '0' as 'owe'. It finally dawned on me, after effin' and blindin' the individual who created the voice recognition in question, that 'owe' is correctly pronounced as 'zero'.


So, is the number '0' still pronounced the same as the letter 'o' when you call out a telephone number?


Yeah, this distinction is probably one of those things which only somebody with too much free time on his/her hands would have noticed!

yeah i've noticed it too :cool:

i consciously try to force myself to say zero instead of O. but it doesn't work much. wonder when it started.

ColeTrain

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

Anyone that says 'Zero 8 7' sounds like a douche.

amacachi

Yellow.

Tonto86

Generic sarcastic comment

Gordon

Unless it's an obvious 087/086 type scenario - then 'owe' is acceptable, but to define your numbers clearly it's better to say 'zero', and while you're there, please make an audible T on the end of 8 please, thx, bai.

mackg

I say owe for the first one eg. 085 but zero from there on out never realised it until now.

efb

I say zero when asked for my number

Zero-Eight-...

phasers

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

So you'd pronounce the year 1907 as "nineteen zero seven"?

oppenheimer1

I always say naught

antodeco

Where's the naught option?

Speedsie

mackg wrote: »

I say owe for the first one eg. 085 but zero from there on out never realised it until now.

I do the reverse - zero for 086, then owe in the 'body' of the number!

ColeTrain

ColeTrain wrote: »

Anyone that says 'Zero 8 7' sounds like a douche.

Anyone that uses the word douche...

Dionysus

ColeTrain wrote: »

Anyone that says 'Zero 8 7' sounds like a douche.

hehe. That's the spirit!

newbee22

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

Owe eight seven.....

Gordon

phasers wrote: »

So you'd pronounce the year 1907 as "nineteen zero seven"?

If it was a telephone number? No, I'd say one nine zero seven.

If you want to say nineteen oh seven and risk someone hearing it as 9007, that's a fail.

Saila

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

its pretty simple OP, whoever entered the voice for your message americanised it, americans say zero, pants, and some call themselves zach.

Chuck Stone

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

I say it like

Ewe, ate, sevahnnn

put your mixture in the Aveann (oven)

amacachi

Gordon wrote: »

If you want to say nineteen oh seven and risk someone hearing it as 9007, that's a fail.

If you can't say those things properly and make them each sound different to another person then I think the fail would be on your head.

Ah-Watch

My old number was 086190... I used say owe 8619zero... number now is 087 and now pronounce it as zero throughout it. Depends if there a beat to it

ColeTrain

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

rarnes1 wrote: »

Anyone that uses the word douche...

[d4 accent]ZERO EIGHT SEVEN[/d4 accent]

phasers

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

Gordon wrote: »

If it was a telephone number? No, I'd say one nine zero seven.

If you want to say nineteen oh seven and risk someone hearing it as 9007, that's a fail.

I dunno, whenever you have to ring the Meteor/o2 customer care lines the staff pronounce the numbers "one nine oh five" and they are the professionals after all.

I think the fact that people say "oh" instead of "zero" in relation to years makes people just naturally say it all the time OP.

Gordon

phasers wrote: »

I dunno, whenever you have to ring the Meteor/o2 customer care lines the staff pronounce the numbers "one nine oh five" and they are the professionals after all.

I think the fact that people say "oh" instead of "zero" in relation to years makes people just naturally say it all the time OP.

You'll find that some advisors in Meteor and O2 say 'oh' and some say 'zero', the professionals differ, there is no consistency, so it'd be great to get some

I think saying 'oh' in years is usually grand as you've got some perspective from the discussion you're having, and you're limited greatly by different options. You couldn't, for example, have a year 9007 when talking about someone's birthday, but you could have this on a phone number. And that's what we're talking about on this thread - phone numbers, not years, so I'm not sure why you're bringing that up :pac:

Wolflikeme

Zero...because it's not a letter!

Aoifey!

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

"Owe" just sounds right at the start of a number, "zero" 87 just doesn't hit the ear right.

flutterflye

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

"Naught" sounds stupid.

Irish Guitarist

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

I say "owe" usually. If I want to make absolutely certain that someone understands me or if I'm talking to a foreigner who might not say "owe" in their country I say "nought". I've never said "zero".

emeraldstar

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

I always say naught

Naught-eight-seven?!

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

I always say it like I'm surprised I have to give my number, and then pretend i meant to do it.


"Oh!?... Eight, five..."

partyatmygaff

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

I use "owe" for area codes like 01 and 087 and zero for everything after that. When i'm reading out a wireless security key or similar I always say "owe"

Pace2008

When I worked in a job that required a fair amount of communication via telephone I'd always say "zero." When calling out phone numbers it's pretty easy to infer thant somoene's referring to a digit whatever option is chosen, but there were times I'd be dealing with alphanumeric strings where disambiguation might be needed. It was just a good habit to use zero in all instances.

In day-to-day speak, I reckon I'd usually say "owe."

alwaysadub

mackg wrote: »

I say owe for the first one eg. 085 but zero from there on out never realised it until now.

Same as!
Yay, i'm not the only one, don't feel as weird now:D

Paparazzo

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

I always say naught

No you don't.

Where To

"Zero" (as in the number/figure)

I say 'nothin'

Jesus Wept

Owe?

inkwell

amacachi wrote: »

Yellow.

lol

inkwell

where do i go from here wrote: »

I say 'nothin'

Gordon

amacachi wrote: »

If you can't say those things properly and make them each sound different to another person then I think the fail would be on your head.

Well I can, but a lot people can't It's just good etiquette to also take into account people from different countries with their own different accents, and sound quality over the phone for example. A consistent approach all round, not much to ask!