The Proper Spelling of the Letters of the Alphabet
In yesterday's post about the letter W, I pondered the correct spelling for W. Not finding an official answer, I went with "double-u." Upon further contemplation, I realized having similar doubts about the spelling of many letters. Therefore, I advance this list, which I ultimately found in Google's scan of the book "The Institutes of English Grammar" by Goold Brown and Henry Kiddle (I've parenthetically added my own thoughts and suggestions):
Why do I need to know these things? It's quite simple actually: I may need them for crossword puzzles. I've already used Cee, Dee, Ell, and Ess, and want to be ready in case the others pop up. (For the record, no self-respecting crossword puzzle will have a two-letter answer; perhaps that is why I am gravitating towards three-letter spellings.)
A - a (how about "aye"?)Although vowels are spelled with only one letter, I am opting for an alternate, longer spelling.
B - bee
C - cee
D - dee
E - e
F - eff (TheFreeDictionary indicates it is merely "ef")
G - gee
H - aitch
I - i (how about "eye"?)
J - jay
K- kay
L - ell (TheFreeDictionary indicates it is merely "el")
M - em
N - en
O - o (how about "oh" or "owe")
P - pee
Q - kue (I prefer "queue" or "cue")
R - ar (how about "are"?)
S - ess
T - tee
U - u (how about "you" or "ewe"?)
V - vee
W - double-u (slang might be "dub-u" or simply "dub")
X - ex
Y - wy (how about "why"?)
Z - zee
Why do I need to know these things? It's quite simple actually: I may need them for crossword puzzles. I've already used Cee, Dee, Ell, and Ess, and want to be ready in case the others pop up. (For the record, no self-respecting crossword puzzle will have a two-letter answer; perhaps that is why I am gravitating towards three-letter spellings.)
Posted by Peter DeHaan at 2/7/2009 10:50 AM 
Categories: Writing
Tags: Google alphabet the letter W Peter DeHaan blog author Peter DeHaan Peter DeHaan Musings Musings of Peter DeHaan
Categories: Writing
Tags: Google alphabet the letter W Peter DeHaan blog author Peter DeHaan Peter DeHaan Musings Musings of Peter DeHaan
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