Questions!
Where does O Belong?
OK, now where does 0 belong?
Can you even tell the difference between the two.
One of them is the Letter o.
The other is the Number Zero.
Ever since I have been working up at the desk at my job, I have been playing Lottery for the customers at their request, but sometimes some of the things they say bother me.
Lets place you in my shoes for the moment (size 12, ugly feet). Lets Say someone (I dunno... S. Gambler) wants to play the New York State Lottery Game called Numbers (There's a similar game called with four numbers called Win-4 also). Everything is going fine until they want to play a number with a zero in it.
240
However S. Gambler doesn't say two-four-zero (well they get the 2 and the 4 right), He says two-four-O (oh).
How would you respond to that?
Well I didn't respond at all really. My first year at the desk, a customer walks in and ask to get some Numbers. I go to help him, but its very noisy in and around the service desk area. He asks for a number with a zero in it, but instead he says the letter O, instead of zero. I didn't hear him clearly so I ask --zero. He responds by saying, "NO I said --O. In my head I'm saying OK, its the same difference, I just said the correct way. He didn't have to yell at me, It's not like I was trying to correct him. We just say it differently.
Fast forward to six years later. Last week I picked up the phone and answered it. Someone wanted to speak to an employee in the bakery department. I park the call, and page the bakery. For some reason I noticed what I was saying. "Bakery Please take the call holding on line 8 oh 1, bakery line 8 oh 1".
Dammit, they've gotten to me! I've been assimilated!
When I page someone or a department there is always a number in there. The phone calls are parked in the 800's, and when we need someone to call our department its 24oh (d'oh).
I've been trying to stop this, but I can't. The letter O has taken over my zero. I cannot resist! My zero is being held captive by all of the letter O's that have been place with in a number, which I have heard these past 6 Years (sob). I've been told that I am stubborn and that I always do my own thing. I guess, that's not always the case.
Man have we gotten so lazy that we can't say the extra syllable. Zero...see how easy that was.
Myth & Magic: Ireland's Fairy Tales
2 years ago
7 comments:
I say Zero....
(size 12 eh?) MEE OOWW
::smirks::
*real long distance hug* THERE ya HAPPY NOW! :oD
I also say "zero" when talking "professionally". Otherwise, it is "oh". It is an abbreviation which is fine. People call me Jeff but my name is Jeffrey. I am okay with that. As a matter of fact, I practically INSIST on it. ;)
"Dammit, they've gotten to me! I've been assimilated!"
Charles you made me laugh out loud in the library! :)
'Dammit, they've gotten to me! I've been assimilated!'
LOL
Funny one Charles, I loved it!
Try this on for size, it will really get on the "o-people's" nerves.
Instead of saying 0 or o....
say 'aught' which is an archaic word for zero. It rhymes with caught.
The only time I hear it used these days is with rifles/shotguns (30.06 is a 'thirty aught six' or 'I shot that deer with double aught buck shot')
But when the year 2000 was approaching, there were actual discussions about what to call that year (since we were used to things like ninety nine, etc) and one of the suggestions was aught-aught. Aren't you glad that plain old "two thousand" won out?
Happy Thanks giving! Hope your day is filled with love and peace!
Jodi
When I end up having to call customer service, or some other institution where an account number or something is involved .. I end up saying "zero" only to have to "correct" myself and say "oh" when the dipwad on the other line apparently wasn't listening whilst I spouted out my account number. It's highly frustrating, to say the least.
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