Saturday, March 6, 2010

The Way The Mind (Sometimes) Works*


I was preparing for a new venture to my photo blog, an ABC Challenge. Each day, a photo would be
posted referencing a different letter of the alphabet, from A to Z.

I looked at a calendar and began counting out the letters to see where each would fall. I figured if I started on the 4th of the month (the month in question being March), 'zee' would end on the 31st ..... or so I concluded.

"Ay ... Bee ... See ... Dea** ... Eee ... Eff ... Gee ... Aychuh ... Eye ... Jay ... Kay ... El ... Em ... En ... Oh ... Pea ... Khyou ... Are ... Ess ... Tea ... You ... Vee ... Double-you ... Ecks ... Why ... Zee"

Waitaminnit. That didn't work. 'Zee' landed on the 29th, not the 31st! How could that be?

I counted again. Same result.

I looked at the calendar once more. I subtracted 4 from 29, getting 25, realizing one letter had to be added in order to accommodate my starting point. That meant there were 26*** letters in the alphabet.

That couldn't be right. Everyone knows there are 28 letters in the alphabet.**** So why was the count not ending on the final day in March, the 31st ... ?!?!?

I pondered this over and over and over again, ultimately coming to the same conclusion each and every time.

I was perplexed.

Until ..... I counted the letters of the alphabet out loud to myself.

I mentally slapped the side my head, exasperated.

Can someone please tell me when the world changed the alphabet from 28 to 26 letters ... ???*****

* My mind, anyway
** Short for 'Deanna'
*** News flash!
**** Apparently not
***** Must've been sleeping that day


..................... Ruprecht ( STOP )

7 comments:

  1. Rupe....they just took away 2 letters recently, kinda like Pluto. Don't worry.

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  2. Downsizing, sadly. It’s hitting across the board. I hear the poor Russians lost *six* and the Chinese are due to lose over a hundred!

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  3. I've always had a problem with the number of letters in the alphabet, but mine was that I was always on the short side. (As I am in real life, ha!)

    I am amused by Dea, since Dee in my case is short for Deanne. That works out just perfectly!

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  4. Actually, the alphabet hasn't changed; it's the numbering system, which has added in numbers where you wouldn't expect to find them. So, previously you'd count the letters of the alphabet and they'd add up to 28, but now with the new numbers added in it comes out to 26.

    It's axial tilt that does it, and the Chilean earthquake knocked everything out of kilter.

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  5. Did Rupe forget those oldie goldie's ch and th :)

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  6. Dammit, Tara! Pluto is still a letter! I will not tolerate, the... uh. um.

    Nevermind.

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  7. They took 2 letters away? I'm just trying to figure out how our local sales tax went up with out me knowing it. I look real dumb holding 8 pennies when now it's 8.5 pennies

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