The Uxbridge Phonetic Alphabet Quiz

Answer: Oscar

Aus-car (or Oz-car).

Early phonetic alphabets used Ontario or Oslo for O. The use of names may be one possible explanation for Oscar sticking around for as long as it has. Perhaps the other most famous Oscar is attributed to the Academy Awards and the statuettes given as prizes, which celebrate the best of film from the previous year.

Answer: Alpha

Al-far.

In its many and varied forms, this is the first letter of many world alphabets: alpha (Greek), aleph (Hebrew, Phoenician), alif (Arabic), to name but three. Indeed, the word 'alphabet' is derived from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta. In the animal kingdom, those described as alpha males are the most dominant and therefore at the top or front of their respective communities.

Answer: X-Ray

Ex-ray.

The easier-to-say x-ray replaced Xanthippe (the wife of Socrates, pronounced zan-thip-pee) in early versions of the phonetic alphabet. X-rays are common in medicine, allowing doctors to produce images of internal aspects of the body, without the need to actually physically access it. X-rays are but one form of radiology - magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerised tomography (CT) scans are also common in hospitals and medical centres.

Answer: Kilo

Key-low.

Kilo is a common prefix for quantities representing '1000'. For example, kilograms, kilometres and kilojoules are 1000 times greater than their respective unit measurements. In the world of computing, which has a heavy emphasis on the binary number system, kilo- quantities represent 2^10 or 1024. Thus, a kilobyte is worth 1024 bytes; a megabyte is 1024 kilobytes.

Answer: Zulu

Zoo-loo.

The Zulu are a group of people found in parts of southern Africa, considered part of the larger Bantu people. The majority of Zulu are found in South Africa, with numbers stretching as far north as Mozambique. Prior to Zulu, Zurich, zero and good old zed have represented Z in the phonetic alphabet.

Answer: Sierra

See-error.

In Spanish, sierra means mountain range (and also saw, which might go some way to describing the jagged peaks of these ranges). Keeping with the Spanish connection, S was once represented by Santiago, the capital city of Chile, in the phonetic alphabet.

Answer: Charlie

Char-Lee.

Before Charlie, C was assigned to such places as Casablanca and Canada. Famous Charlies include the actor Charlie Chaplin, the Rolling Stones' drummer Charlie Watts, and France's satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo". During the time of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie was perhaps the most well-known of the crossing points between the east and west halves of Berlin.

Answer: Uniform

This one's fairly self-explanatory, really: you need a uni-form to enrol in the university.

Uniforms are outfits or articles of clothing designed to associate those who wear them with one another. Thus, uniformity refers to a sense of homogeneity and things being the same as others. Typically, uniforms are worn by school children, employees of particular organisations, and military personnel, but this is by no means an exhaustive list.

Answer: India

In-deer.

Italy and Italia have previously been code words for I, before the modern representation of India came into popular usage. Venison is the meat of deer, and is a particularly healthy meat compared to its contemporaries; its leanness and similarity in taste and texture to beef makes it a viable alternative in many culinary situations.

Answer: Tango

Again, this one pretty much explains itself: tan-go.

Historically, T has also stood for Tokyo and Tripoli. In military speak, a tango can refer to a target or enemy, while in the world of dance, the tango is a South American dance for two, that can be traced back to Uruguay and Argentina in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Many variations exist as the dance spread across the world - the ballroom variation, in particular, is popular in North America and Europe.