pronouncing-hex-numbers

How to pronounce hex numbers and not trip over your own tongue

Motivation

1: reading hex phonetically is annoying
2: repeating yourself because you failed to make yourself understood sucks
3: existing proposals for pronouncing hex are over-engineered, unrealistic, and/or vulgar sounding

Goal

1: consistent set of rules for dictating hex numbers
2: easy to remember, easy to say, easy to understand
3: no "special" additional knowledge
4: (IMPORTANT) as not-ridiculous-sounding as possible

Rules

  1: read the number from left to right, two bytes at a time ("blockwise")
  2: while blocks remain, consume a block and...:
       if only the leading nibble is set:
         call out the block using traditional english comma notation (ex: `0x8000` → "ate-thousand", `0xE000` → "e-thousand", etc.)
       else if all nibbles are the same:
         call out "X block", where X is the repeated nibble (ex: 0xFFFF → "f-block", 0x2222 → "two-block", etc.)
       else:
         call out both bytes in the block of nibbles (ex: 0xCAFE → "c'ity-alfa", "ef'ity-ecko")
                                                     (ex: 0xCAFE → "charlie-alfa", "foxtrot-ecko")
                                                     (ex: 0xDE45 → "delta-ecko", "fourty-five"

Example

By using this simple set of rules you can dictate hex numbers of arbitrary complexity ex: 0x7FFF FFFF FFFF 7000 4534 FE23 D000 87EE C9FE 9090 323A BDFF

        0x7FFF → "seventy-ef, foxity-ef"
        0xFFFF → "f-block" 
        0xFFFF → "f-block" 
        0x7000 → "seven-thousand" 
        0x4534 → "fourty-five, thirty-four"
        0xFE23 → "foxity-ecko, twenty-three"
        0xD000 → "dee-thousand"
        0x87EE → "eighty-seven, eckity-ecko"
        0xC9FE → "charlotty-nine, efity-ecko",
        0x9090 → "ninety, ninety" (OR "nine-thousand-ninety"),
        0x323A → "thirty-two, thirty-alfa",
        0xBDFF → "bravity-delta, efity-ef"

Example pronunciation guide

It doesn't matter if you use these pronounciations. What matters is you 1) stick to four nibbles, and 2) remain intelligible.