9-1-1 en · PROPN
Etymology
The official form of the service's name in regulations and materials from the United States National Emergency Number Association and Federal Communication Commission.
Meanings
-
(alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of 911.
alt of 911
9-1-1 is a phone number everyone knows growing up; its mention is associated with fear and disaster. If you’re dialing 9-1-1, something’s wrong. Using it in conjunction with another terrible event, then, isn’t a huge leap. If the events took place on March 11 (like the public information phone number 3-1-1), perhaps the metonym wouldn’t be “3/11,” since it isn’t similarly visceral. (It’s worth noting that the Madrid train bombings, which took place on March 11, are known in Spain as “11-M” due to the country’s use of the date-before-month method of date formatting.) (This connection between “9/11” and 9-1-1 is made evident in the story of its initial usage.
2015 January 16, Rick Paulas, “The Linguistics of Tragedy”, in Pacific Standard, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2025:
wikipedia: National Emergency Number Association · wikipedia: Federal Communication Commission · wikipedia: United States