This was one of the first language obstacles I ever encountered here, spelling stuff over the phone. I was activating my Telcel account shortly after landing here two years ago and found that I couldn’t get past the fourth letter of my own name… “Eme, Ah, Ere …. iiiii….” Subsequent errors have included things like “C de ‘queso.’”
To facilitate my phone conversations, of which I am having a lot more now that I work at a desk, I have made and printed out a phonetic alphabet for Mexican Spanish:
Agua
Bueno
Colima
Durango
Elote
Fresco
Guanajuato
Huevo
Idea
Jalisco
Kilo
Libre
México
Nopal
Ñoño
Oaxaca
Popote
Queso
Rojo
Sonora
Taco
Uruguay
Veracruz
Whiskey
Xochimilco
Yucatán
Zocalo
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This is great, but have you heard a Mexican ever use any of these? For instance, I know “d de dedo” would be far more common than Durango. Apparently in Spain it’s very common to use Spanish place names in this context, but I haven’t heard it at all in Mexico. This is extremely useful and I think it’s worth consulting with some native speakers to see what they say in these situations.
Is there a standard? I know everyone says B de Bueno… I kind of wasn’t aiming for one that was recognized, haha. I just need something to keep me from saying “v de verga.”