AskUSA

170 readers

325 users here now

About

Community for asking and answering any question related to the life, the people or anything related to the USA. Please keep in mind:

!politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world - politics in our daily lives is inescapable, but please post overtly political things there rather than here
!flippanarchy@lemmy.dbzer0.com - similarly things with the goal of overt agitation have their place, which is there rather than here

Rules

Be nice or gtfo
Discussions of overt political or agitation nature belong elsewhere
Follow the rules of discuss.online

Sister communities

Related communities

founded 1 week ago

MODERATORS

OpenStars@discuss.online

admiralpatrick@discuss.online

Why do you say the letter "O" when you mean the digit "0"? (feddit.org)

submitted 5 days ago by SatyrSack@feddit.org to c/AskUSA@discuss.online

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Examples:

One oh two Main Street
Four oh seven PM
Biology one oh one
Eight six seven, five three oh nine
Four oh four: Not found

Not just a US thing, so I hope this is okay to ask here. I have just never encountered this is any language other than English. Is it simply that O and 0 look similar, and that "oh" has fewer syllables than "zero"? I have not heard a good explanation from coworkers who I've asked.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] tanisnikana@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Nah, I've been in Oregon since I moved here. My English is pretty good now though; I pass as a native English speaker now, and generally don't let people think otherwise. Once in a long while I'll hear people shit talking me for being trans in Japanese, but not often (it usually happens in English, sadly).

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 2 points 3 days ago

I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully your neighbors will become more tolerant with time.