February 05, 2013

A Superhero-Based Phonetic Alphabet That Will Save Us All from Confusion

Posted by Lawrence Wright on The New Yorker Blog

“We will be arriving at gate B 11,” the flight attendant on American Airlines called out as we were landing in Boston. “That’s Batman 11. Your bags will be in luggage carousel C, that’s “C” for Captain America.”

“Well, nobody will forget that,” I said when the attendant, James Owens, replaced the microphone. I was standing in the bathroom queue.

“We will be arriving at gate B 11,” the flight attendant on American Airlines called out as we were landing in Boston. “That’s Batman 11. Your bags will be in luggage carousel C, that’s “C” for Captain America.”

“Well, nobody will forget that,” I said when the attendant, James Owens, replaced the microphone. I was standing in the bathroom queue. Usually on such flights, you hear the NATO phonetic alphabet — Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, etc. — but, to my delight, Mr. Owens recited his own superhero code. I think we could be looking at a new international standard.

If you haven’t heard of all of these, some remedial reading may be required.

James Owens’s superhero alphabet:

A: Aquaman

B: Batman

C: Captain America

D: Daredevil

E: Elastigirl

F: Flash

G: Green Lantern

H: Hercules

I: Isis

J: Joker

K: Kryptonite

L: Lex Luthor

M: Martian Manhunter

N: Nightcrawler

O: Optimus Prime

P: Penguin

Q: Quicksilver

R: Robin

S: Superman

T: Thor

U: Underdog

V: Victor von Doom

W: Wonder Woman

X: Xena

Y: Yellow Canary

Z: Zeus

Illustration by Gerald Scarfe.