Oh or Zero

I don't know at what point I noticed this, but there was a time when I would say the word "oh" to refer to the number 0 in a phone number (three-oh-one) or any set of numbers really (five-oh-five) and it started bugging me. Because it is a number, not a letter. I made an effort to stop doing it. (or, became anal about it!) So I made sure I was saying three-zero-one etc.

But telling time is a different story. We say 'oh' for the :04 even though the 'oh' is standing for a number. Is it correct in that instance because we say o'clock and that transfers to 'eight-oh-four'? I have no idea.

Anyway, it seems like Lucas is taking after me in that little idiosyncrasy though.

I told him it was time to leave because it was "nine-oh-four."

His response was, "No it's not! It's nine-zero-four. It's a number, not a letter." And for added emphasis, in case I didn't get it, "abcdefghijklmno (pause) see? It's a letter."

Glad I've got him to keep it real!