Posted by K Thomson on December 18, 2006 at 04:36:46 from 205.250.180.59 user kthomson.
In Reply to: Re: phonetic alphabets Re: ZEE or ZED? posted by Laurence Monkhouse on December 17, 2006 at 12:04:53:
I am not sure how true this is but according to an old signal instructor of mine this is why "George" was changed to "Golf".
In naval signalling a signal is hoisted say "George 5" and all other ships then hoist the same signal to show that they have understood it. When the signal is to be carried out or "executed" the signal is hauled down to the command "Execute George 5". Apparently or so the story goes this upset his late majesty George V when he was a serving officer in the RN and so it was changed. Don't know if this is just an urban legend or not but it makes a nice story.