this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2024
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Why do you say the letter "O" when you mean the digit "0"? (feddit.org)
submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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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.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Is it simply that O and 0 look similar, and that “oh” has fewer syllables than “zero”?

They look aimilar and in some sentences it just rolls off the tongue better '3 oh 5' for the time of day for example just sounds 'better'. A lot of english wording seems to favor sounding 'better' when it is less rigidly structured. It might be rrlated to how english as a language loves to incorporate words and phrasing from other languages so frequently that being inconsistent ends up being a feature as it allows for easy additions.