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Saw it, said it, sorted?
- Thread starter The exile
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RailUK Forums
Still going where I am. I heard it several times yesterday.
As you say, you’ve probably blocked it out.
pdeaves
Established Member
Probably blotted out. Some operators use the same general message but with varied wording; perhaps that passes you by rather than grates.
J-2739
Established Member
The one they currently have on London Underground is particularly bad. All the stresses are in the wrong place when the man says '61016'. Also, why does he repeat it twice anyway?
Anne does it best.
Anne does it best.
Sun Chariot
Established Member
There's a variant in these 'ere "shady parts":
See it
Steal it
Sell it
SORTED
See it
Steal it
Sell it
SORTED
greatkingrat
Established Member
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- 2,770
If the announcements aren't being played I recommend you text 61016 and report it!
It is *appalling*. It is too loud, very jarring, and extremely annoying. It actually puts me off using the Underground when an alternative is available.
ExRes
Established Member
Is there anywhere on the forum that this appalling subject can be reported in the hope it can then be permanently banned from use?
CharlieSpotted
Member
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- 21 May 2014
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- 730
I have never understood why all the announcements say:
"Six-one-oh-one-six"
Where it's clear the intention was:
"Six... one-oh-one... Six"
Because 101 is the police non-emergency number. It's obvious that's why the shortcode was chosen in the first place! So why not say it like that?!
J-2739
Established Member
Except most of the alternatives in London are also plagued by see it, say it, sorted!
Watch it spread onto the buses next.
Ooh, I never thought of it that way, now that makes sense!
Zero in phone numbers has traditionally been rendered as “oh”.
Deepgreen
Established Member
When I hear; "If you see something that doesn't look right..." I often think; "they really don't have time"!
sjoh
Member
As I'm sure you're aware (and are simply milking for the sake of pedantry) "oh" is quite commonly substituted in for zero when announcing phone numbers. In fact, in this context the Oh is actually derived as a shortening of Zero, rather than from the letter.
Yes, the trouble is, try doing that with airline PNR codes and other situations and it won't work.
Why not just be accurate?
People do know that the number zero exists.
Still heard on LNER and ScotRail yesterday.
ScotRail's announcements (on the HSTs at least) have become a bit weird since a few months back.
It now ends "see it.... SAY IT SORTED" with an odd lack of natural gap before "SORTED".
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
It accurately describes how people say phone numbers. Hardly anyone says "zero seven one two three", it's always "oh seven...".
I suppose if you're used to the phonetic alphabet and safety-critical comms "zero" is second nature.
It's not always... I and several others I hear in the office start our mobile numbers with "zero seven".
Perhaps that's because we're in the telecoms industry... we also know how to format phone numbers correctly.
I find it amazing that people write their mobile numbers as a string of numbers with no break, e.g. 07123874637.
Not sure how that helps readability.
Even worse are the online forms which won't let you enter it in the correct format with the space, i.e. 07xxx yyyyyy.
kristiang85
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There is a special place in hell for whoever devised this phrase. That place is in an isolated room, hands tied down, and it playing loudly and on repeat for all of eternity.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Probably so, but 99.9999% of the population aren't, and "oh" is normal.
Given that the "area code" on a mobile number is utterly meaningless to the end user (and landlines are headed into Scotty's "how quaint" territory), does this format have or even need a future?
Essan
Member
Nope, I heard it on Monday (last time I was on GWR) - both at the station and on the train
Except most of the alternatives in London are also plagued by see it, say it, sorted!
Sadly true, but somehow the Underground announcements really grate, whereas the other ones are irritating but less so - they don't cause me to want to shout expletives loudly at the disembodied voice.
I'd say you've plucked "99.9999%" out of thin air! It's certainly less common don't get me wrong but I think more than 1 in a million use "zero" on the phone. Call centres tend to use zero I've found.
It is a question of readability.
You know this.
It is why forum posts are easier to read when there is white space.
And the same reason numbers are easier to comprehend and transcribe when they are split into smaller groups of digits.
Have a look at your recent incoming call log on your favourite Android (and I assume iOS) device.
For numbers not in your contacts, it doesn't just give one enormous string of numbers.
Purple Train
Established Member
Which is of course the mark of a well-devised slogan!
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Breaking it up is yes, but the old format that ascribed meaning to the chunks isn't relevant any more.
You could write 07 123 456 789, or 071234 56789, or even go all French and write 07 12 34 56 78 9 or something, individuals would debate which was more readable.
Off topic, but why invent new formats when there is a long-established standard (ITU-T E.123) for phone numbers?
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