[Cryptography] [cryptography] PGP word list

[Jerry Leichter]

On Feb 22, 2015, at 2:01 PM, Dave Horsfall <dave at horsfall.org> wrote:
> OT aside: I saw a disgusting version, which went along the lines of "P as 
> in psychology" etc; your "C as in citrus" reminded me :-)
A as in aisle, b as in bee, c as in ctenophora, d as in Djibouti....

The original joke started with "I spell my name with p, as in pneumonia".  I spent some time a while back trying to construct an entire alphabet.  Some letters - like "b" - are surprisingly difficult.

A puzzle - which I can't give in email for obvious reasons - involves pronouncing a particular 8 letter word that has fallen out of use but was the common name of a disease in the 19th century and asking someone to spell it.  Unless they know it, it will take them multiple guesses to find *any* of the letters.  (If there's interest I can try to find a spoken version of the word and put it up somewhere for people to try.)

There's also a shuffling of the alphabet for the classic children's song of the alphabet which, in place of "now I know my a b c's" ends with "now I know by b d v's".
                                                        -- Jerry