"Oh" or "zero"?
By olisaur
@olisaur (1922)
United States
June 15, 2010 7:35pm CST
This is a really random question.
When you are verbally telling someone a phone number or address or somthing like that, how do you pronounce "0"?
Do you say "oh" or "zero"? Like (for 1208 blank street), "Twelve Oh Eight" or "Twelve Zero Eight"?
I have gotten into the habit of saying "Oh." I used to say Zero when I was a kid but everyone I knew said oh instead and used to tease me about it (I mean, not in a bad way, but a playful one) so I just switched and have been saying so ever since.
1 person likes this
7 responses
@reene0225 (351)
• United States
16 Jun 10
For me it just depends. When I'm saying my phone number I say zero but when saying an address I would say "oh". I'm not sure why I switch it up. I guess some things just sound better to me a certain way.
@StephanieAnnC (4274)
• United States
16 Jun 10
I do the same. My mother used to pester me to say 'zero' instead of 'oh' when referring to my phone number. She said it confused people, so I stopped. Now, it's become such a habit to say 'zero' when repeating my phone number to someone.
I do say 'oh' when it comes doing mathematics though. Like if I had to read 1208, I would read it out loud either 'twelve thousand and eight' or 'twelve oh eight.'
As long as someone can understand you, I don't think it really matters if you say 'oh' or 'zero.'
@macdingolinger (10386)
• United States
16 Jun 10
I don't think it actually matters too much. I have heard it said that as a general rule the "math people" and educated people usually use "zero" whereas in general those outside the math field usually use "Oh" for 0...
@echofrommadiun (93)
• Indonesia
16 Jun 10
For me, I usually say both of them. When I want to tell phone number, sometimes I say "oh" and sometimes "zero". The same thing also happens to telling address.
@Qman333 (63)
• United States
16 Jun 10
Personally, I strive to use "zero" when I talk since it is sometimes more accurate and people can also misunderstand you occasionally when you say "oh." I do catch myself saying "oh" instead of "zero" though. Does anyone know why people say "oh" instead of "zero."(the origin?)
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
16 Jun 10
Since I spent many years in the computer field I got into the habit of saying "zero" although I did say "oh" when I was younger. There is a difference between the two when you're talking about logins, programming code, email addresses etc. so it was necessary to be specific.
