"It's like X wasn't given enough to do, so they had to promise it more. Okay, you don't start a lot of words, but we'll give you a co-starring role in tic-tac-toe. And you will be associated with hugs and kisses. And you will mark the spot. And you will make writing Christmas easier. And incidentally, you will start xylophone. Are you happy, you fuckin' X?!" Mitch Headberg
Yeah I'm like 90% sure this is the reason it's used for variables and unknowns. It's "the mystery letter, the one you're not quite sure what it's for", and also something you won't encounter in a sentence accidentally (like a or i)
Depends if you're considering the position by numeric value or as a rank. Semi-related: I recently fucked up royally in Azure trying to set up a rule to highlight tasks with "priority 3 or lower" (turns out 1 and 2 are lower than 3).
Q due to its circular nature rather than linear indicates a wisdom and intelligence. Like the engineer for MI6/James Bond. Q is used for query, seeking answers. Always felt that way to me. Queer is q too, but every letter has its quirks
Well C and Q have no business being letters. They don't have their own original sound all they kan do is mimik others. Every instanse of Q kan be replased with K. And every instanse of C kan be replased with either S or K. There would be no phonetik differense and it would aktually be easier to read. The only exseption would be CH but that should have been its own letter instead of krappy C. I'm konvinsed someone in power invented C bekause they were too lazy to write K or S. C is half of both.
We used to use them interchangeably in Old English. I'm not against bringing them both back, but I didn't suggest Þ because I think in handwritten form if you're not careful the capital letter can easily be confused with P, and I can't think of any cases where mixing up voiced vs. voiceless 'th' would result in a new word (e.g., there's no voiced "think", voiceless "that", etc.), so we might not need both. Historically, though, we kept Þ longer, so my perference is almost certainly unpopular. 😅
Agreed. Utmost respect for Q, but we need you in the assassin guild, not walking around in public with P and R, and your very proximity to S and T is going to rouse suspicion.
Hmm. I guess in the English aplhabet that would make sense, since W is "double U" so having it after U feels right, but the Finnish alphabet should end ...uvwqxyzåäö since we call W "double V"...
I thought about this for spanish, but we actually use Q a lot. Que, Quien, Quiero, Queso, etc... What should be banished to the void in Spanish is H. It literally makes no sound ever unless it is attached to C as in Churro.
arajad
I'm still trying to find the letter elemeno.
M34665
It should at least be moved to right before U since Q is commonly followed by U
hutpill4752
i always thought p and q needed to be together in self reflection p|q https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1d2l6eXVuMm4yN3FodWo5bXVtY21sZ2R1M3J1YWt3ZnlpZ3ZsYzNwYyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/3o7TKnKXMdf5qNtVLi/200w.webp
AgamemnonsMemes
II always feel like Q is with W X and Y
spattr
Why goth letters when you have Qwerty letters available?
azazyel
"It's like X wasn't given enough to do, so they had to promise it more. Okay, you don't start a lot of words, but we'll give you a co-starring role in tic-tac-toe. And you will be associated with hugs and kisses. And you will mark the spot. And you will make writing Christmas easier. And incidentally, you will start xylophone. Are you happy, you fuckin' X?!" Mitch Headberg
cousteau
Yeah I'm like 90% sure this is the reason it's used for variables and unknowns. It's "the mystery letter, the one you're not quite sure what it's for", and also something you won't encounter in a sentence accidentally (like a or i)
seafoamistasty
Big Q goth girls!
cousteau
The four least common letters in English are J, X, Q, Z. Like, what the hell is J doing so high up in the alphabet?
nojustsayitdont
It's a kissing cousin with 'I,i'
PowerPedant
Just joyfully jibing.
rcgom
j is a modification of the i, hence its position next to it. same for the w & v.
cousteau
And what the hell is up with G?
Randomice
Qoth?
cousteau
The raven…
thedudeman519
(this is pro wretsler Scott Levy AKA Raven)
Leonon
The problem with changing the alphabet is that changing standards is an absolute nightmare
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5wpm-gesOY
cousteau
It's still quite impressive that USB managed to pull that three times.
jesuisgur
Were there different alphabets in english at one time ?
Leonon
A few letters have been added or dropped over the years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_Latin_alphabet
nojustsayitdont
I concur,
taez555
Wouldn't it low in the alphabet, since A is first and Z is last?
cousteau
Depends if you're considering the position by numeric value or as a rank.
Semi-related: I recently fucked up royally in Azure trying to set up a rule to highlight tasks with "priority 3 or lower" (turns out 1 and 2 are lower than 3).
Midgarmerc
Q is a fairly common letter though
cousteau
Second least common letter in English, right before Z. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency
cousteau
And what the hell is the deal with T?
DickTipPapercut
Its only called the alphabet because the first two letters are alpha beta. Imagine if it was called something else like that.
shano510
A rose by any other name
TinaEveFox
I'm gonna call it the Foxtrot Kilo!
gtotherizzle
The Alphabet doesn't need to be in order....there are no rules that say it needs to be
cousteau
But seeing it out of order triggers my CDO
cousteau
In Spanish it's "abecedario". We went all the way up to the D!
shano510
That's commitment
rcgom
like futhark?
cousteau
Or qwerty?
Horsebox67
Freaks me it's also double u and not double v
madnessfromthesea
y?
DYSBcero
Q due to its circular nature rather than linear indicates a wisdom and intelligence. Like the engineer for MI6/James Bond. Q is used for query, seeking answers. Always felt that way to me. Queer is q too, but every letter has its quirks
pixeltwig
The weirdo/goth letters? Does that mean æ,ø,å?
RummageSaleBubbler
"ETAON RISHD LFCMU GYPWB VKJXZQ"
More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency
cousteau
Wasn't it ETAOIN SHRDLU? (although the 12th position is highly disputed)
1PoorThor
Well C and Q have no business being letters. They don't have their own original sound all they kan do is mimik others. Every instanse of Q kan be replased with K. And every instanse of C kan be replased with either S or K. There would be no phonetik differense and it would aktually be easier to read. The only exseption would be CH but that should have been its own letter instead of krappy C. I'm konvinsed someone in power invented C bekause they were too lazy to write K or S. C is half of both.
cousteau
Akchually… you probably should include x in there. It's literally two sounds. Why is it even a letter?
Osiricus
You put a lot of work into this and I just want you to know that you're seen and appreciated.
Salticido
We'd need a new letter/digraph for the CH sound in "chum" if we're ditching C, so I'd probably swap to ditching K instead, but otherwise I agree.
cousteau
Or we also ditch X for KS and repurpose it to represent SH. And then write CH as TX like in Basque.
Salticido
Makes sense to me. I'd also love to bring back the letter Eth (Ð ð) for TH sounds. For phonetic purposes but also it just looks cool. Don't you ðink?
cousteau
No no no, ð is for music-y th as in the. þ is for voiceless th as in think.
cousteau
On a side note, I use ɔ (a stem-less þ) as shorthand for th or the on my notes. Like ɔis.
Salticido
We used to use them interchangeably in Old English. I'm not against bringing them both back, but I didn't suggest Þ because I think in handwritten form if you're not careful the capital letter can easily be confused with P, and I can't think of any cases where mixing up voiced vs. voiceless 'th' would result in a new word (e.g., there's no voiced "think", voiceless "that", etc.), so we might not need both. Historically, though, we kept Þ longer, so my perference is almost certainly unpopular. 😅
brantosaurus85
Weird. I think of A as low and Z as high up on the alphabet. In other words Q isn’t high enough.
jeffbInternetBeast
You can put it wherever you want. The letters really don't have to be in any order.
Osiricus
Agreed. Utmost respect for Q, but we need you in the assassin guild, not walking around in public with P and R, and your very proximity to S and T is going to rouse suspicion.
beefsteak73
Weird how Q and U hang around like best buds until it's alphabet time, then U's like "i don't know that guy"
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
vuwqxyz.
RabidCharcuterie
Throw j in there. Let’s order the alphabet by Scrabble value
ColoradoMountainProjects
AIPAC will make the USA move J to the front of the line.
nojustsayitdont
QUVWXYZ.
Hexrowe
Hmm. I guess in the English aplhabet that would make sense, since W is "double U" so having it after U feels right, but the Finnish alphabet should end ...uvwqxyzåäö since we call W "double V"...
cousteau
And then you have Polish, which has a W but not a V.
TicoGuy
I thought about this for spanish, but we actually use Q a lot. Que, Quien, Quiero, Queso, etc... What should be banished to the void in Spanish is H. It literally makes no sound ever unless it is attached to C as in Churro.
cousteau
So apparently Q is quite well positioned in the alphabet in Spanish. It's the 18th letter in the alphabet (including Ñ, of course) and the 19th by frequency. M and X nailed it. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frecuencia_de_aparici%C3%B3n_de_letras
NoCapForRealForReal
... and V is before U why?
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
Because it's a cooler letter.
TheOGPooner
Because France is V and then double v… we are u and then double u.
SpamYarBlockers
Double u is such a stupid name for a letter. It’s embarrassing
cousteau
Historically, U is a variation of V, same as how J is a variation of I. I'd say that VU makes much more sense than UV.
Sticklebrickk
I've heard from wave rays that would like a word.
airwoman
*Looks at wave rays* hey, those are particles not waves
cousteau
Scientifically accurate "Why not both?"
lacrossejock10
Because he played his cards right?
juzzfuzz
ideas are bulletproof
pushingchildrenintotraffic
more like this?
Osiricus
Why is T so far down? Is it like an anchor letter in this? So the forces aren't spread too thin?
pushingchildrenintotraffic
phonetic alphabet
Osiricus
Oh, maybe you didn't get what I was saying. It was kind of a joke since T is used so much and is such a strong letter. For some odd reason...idk.
cousteau
What is that atrocity and why does it exist?
cousteau
Nvm, just got it. Clever.
CeruleanK
I see what it is supposed to be, except "ar ay aitch" is not in the correct order.
cousteau
Oooh, clever! I got it now. ("Aytch" maybe?)
CeruleanK
Yeah, maybe. But "aitch" is the real dictionary word.
cousteau
I looked it up because sometimes letters get funny names in some English speaking countries and apparently there is "haitch", but that's about it.