The use of cue as a verb or noun to refer to “anything that excites to action” comes from another abbreviation related to the letter itself. The letter Q has the honor of being one of two letters that is not included in the spelling of its own name: cue. The use of pee as a verb and noun to refer to urination actually comes from a euphemism for the vulgar piss, using the spelling of the initial letter in piss: P. The most scatological letter name is pee ( P). The en dash (–) is shorter than an em dash (-). The en dash is, you guessed it, the width of the letter N when printed. Much like the letters em and en themselves, the em-dash and en-dash are often mixed up. The name of the punctuation mark comes from the fact that it is the width of the letter M when printed. The spelling of the letter M, em, can be found in the name of the punctuation mark em dash (-). However, it is also the spelling for the letter L. L – elĮl is most easily recognizable as the common abbreviation for elevated railroad. Okay is a unique Americanism that you can read more about here. Just like in okay, K is typically spelled k-a-y.

You may already be familiar with the spelling of the letter K from the expression okay, or OK. Like C, the spelling jay can be useful when describing something in the shape of the letter. The letter J has a long and complicated history-it began as a swash, a typographical embellishment for the already existing I-but its spelling is relatively straightforward: jay. The letter comes from Northern Semitic languages and its modern corollary is the Hebrew letter heth. It is spelled aitch, but the pronunciation of its name is. The letter H has a tricky spelling and pronunciation. Have you met these two extinct alphabet letters? Take a look! H – aitch Particularly in American slang, the spelled out name gee is used as an abbreviation for grand, in the sense of “thousand dollars.” With the exception of ef, the letter G is spelled like the other letters we have seen so far: gee. The spelled out name ef is occasionally used as an abbreviation for much saltier language. Like the letter B, dee originally had another name in the Phoenician alphabet: daleth. Like B and C, the letter D is spelled out with -ee: d-e-e. You might be picking up on a pattern here. The spelling cee might come in handy especially when writing about something “shaped or formed like the letter C,” as in she was curled in a cee, holding her pillow. It isn’t spelled with an S but a C: c-e-e. The spelling of the letter C might surprise you. Before it was bee, the letter B was part of the Phoenician alphabet and was known as beth. The plural is bees, like something you might find in a hive. The letter B is spelled just like the insect: b-e-e.

If you’ve always minded your p’s and q’s and know your letters to a tee, then you should head over to our quiz on how the letters of the alphabet are spelled. 🖋 Will our quiz on spelling spell victory for you?

Spell the alphabet in english