# Does Anyone Else Have to Sing the Alphabet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2002, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235 "2002-12-03T16:21:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/41 "2002-12-03T19:53:15Z")
Another “now I know my ABCs” songstress here. I do fine with JKLMNO, but there is some part of my brain that stubbornly insists on believing that G comes after H and I despite all evidence to the contrary, unless I sing it. I’m relieved to find I’m not alone in this. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/42 "2002-12-03T19:53:43Z")
C’mon, everybody now! “We the People, in order to form a more per-fect un-ion…” ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/43 "2002-12-03T19:59:23Z")
> [@](#): > > “We the People, in order to form a more per-fect un-ion…” “es-tablish justice, ensure domestic tranquilliteeeee…” Yeah, I’ve got to sing that one too. And the alphabet. SO good to know I’m not alone! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorkusmalorkusmafia/32/7266_2.png) [@dorkusmalorkusmafia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorkusmalorkusmafia)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/44 "2002-12-03T20:00:42Z")
I don’t have to sing the alphabet song. I can also do it backwards still without singing. ---
**Author:** ![skittles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@skittles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skittles)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/45 "2002-12-03T20:11:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBeer \* > \*\*My question, too, Eve. Wazzup wif dat, Ukey? \*\* Well, I’m not the one that was asked…but it helps me spell Chicago. **Chi** cken in the **ca** r and the car won’t **go**. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/46 "2002-12-03T20:18:17Z")
Yeah, yeah, and I spell New Jersey with “ **Ne** ver **w** ill **Je** ws **r** un **se** veral **y** ears apart.” ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/47 "2002-12-03T20:24:25Z")
Um, so how do you folks usually misspell “Chicago”? (Sure, you **could** misspell it as “Mkjhkdhfwe,” but I can’t imagine that misspelling it would be so common as to require a mnemonic that so many people seem to know.) ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/48 "2002-12-03T20:31:19Z")
> [@](#): > > ## \*Originally posted by Scarlett67 \* \*\*Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November; All the rest have thirty-one Excepting February alone: Which hath but twenty-eight, in fine, Till leap year gives it twenty-nine. > > \*\* Thank you **Scarlett67** , I say it just like you but when I got to the “thirty-one” part the next line would be “'cept February” and that was it. I knew something was missing, but didn’t realize how much. As for the trick, my step-dad actually used that but I had already gotten in the habit of using my not-quite-a-rhyme and stuck with that instead. **BiblioCat** and **Poly** , you two crack me up! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/49 "2002-12-03T20:42:54Z")
I used to have to sing the alphabet, but after a year and a half working in a bookstore, I am the Queen of the Alphabet. But I got all of y’all beat with the mneumonic songs: _I can sing the presidents_. We had to sing the names of the presidents to the tune of Yankee Doodle Dandy back in seventh grade, and it has stayed with me. It’s a great party trick. (Really. Some friends and I sang it at a party in high school, to the startlement of the other guests.) So if you need to know who the fifteenth president, I’m your woman! I can sing: Washington Adams Jefferson Madison Monroe Adams Jackson Van Buren Harrison Tyler Polk Taylor Fillmore Pierce **Buchanan**. Unfortunately, I can only sing it up to Bush Sr., cause he was the president when I was in seventh grade. And his name ended the verse. Clinton and Bush start a new verse, which sounds unwieldy. ---
**Author:** ![skittles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@skittles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skittles)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/50 "2002-12-03T20:52:22Z")
Guess I’m just that bad of a speller that I need the little song. 🙂 You should hear the inside of my head when I spell beautiful! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/51 "2002-12-03T21:11:08Z")
Da feh, I can name all the presidents _and_ their terms of office, in order, and I don’t gotta sing no silly song to do it. So neener. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/52 "2002-12-03T22:04:03Z")
Thirty days hath September, April, June and November, All the rest eat peanut butter, Except my grandma’ Who drives a red Buick. The local cops have people recite the alphabet as a sobriety test. They say that fully 90% of the people they put through the test sing the Alphabet Song. This is regarded as an indication of intoxication. We are all in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/53 "2002-12-03T22:27:27Z")
I sing the alphabet song, and I’m damn proud of it! I also (occasionally) sing the 1 to 12 Sesame Street song, though thats more joking, because I can count to 12 without it! One two three four FIVE Six seven eight nine TEN eleven TWELVE! ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/54 "2002-12-03T22:33:18Z")
Hmm…I half-sing and half recite. I can say it without singing, but I still say “elemeno” and the pacing of the recitation is exactly like the song (pauses after G and S, for example.) I can only do the Greek alphabet while singing, though. ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/55 "2002-12-04T00:34:03Z")
I certainly remember, **eve** , “elemenoh” being one letter. I dropped the song, though not the drill, early on. I wasn’t thrilled with the tune, it sounded contrived. I still know it, of course. (plays it over in my mind. yuck.) Not being able to keep the alphabet straight was one of the (stupid) reasons I decided not to go to law school. How early on our lives are formed! ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/56 "2002-12-04T01:22:50Z")
the important question about the alphabet song… what comes after Z? for me, it was always: _W, X, Y and Z Now I know my ABC’s Next time, won’t you sing with me?_ ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/57 "2002-12-04T03:26:25Z")
When I was teaching English in Japan, I found that the audiotapes the Ministry of Education approved changed the spacing to eliminate the ellemenopee problem, adding a few bars at the end. And it’s impossible to express in writing. Nevermind. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/58 "2002-12-04T03:44:18Z")
I don’t have to _sing_ the alphabet, but I do recite pieces of it, though I don’t have to go through the entire thing. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MaxTheVool \* > \*\*the important question about the alphabet song… what comes after Z? > > for me, it was always: > _W, X, Y and Z > Now I know my ABC’s > Next time, won’t you sing with me?_ \*\* Same for me. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lsura \* > \*\*I have to sing the alphabet, and I to thought “elemenoh” was a single letter for a long time. > > I also have to sing the Preamble to the Constitution and do the whole “Thirty days hath November…” to know how whether the month has changed yet. \*\* I’m still trying to figure out why you have to recite the Preamble in order to know how many days a month has. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![sotally\_tober](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@sotally\_tober](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sotally_tober)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/59 "2002-12-04T03:46:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > \*\*“Ved”? No, I think they let that one go in th’ rewrite. 🙂 > > The “Alphabet Song” that made it down here in th’ 1970s was American, so it had “Zeeeee…” before the final verse. We stalwart Kiwis, true to th’ Mother tongue, resist this, of course. > > Probably why I don’t need it. \*\* Over here x ‘axe’ and z ‘zed’ sorta rhyme…it may be streched a little but it’s True! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Olentzero \* > \*\*“Alphabet song”, that is. I know Chinese doesn’t have an alphabet so just sit your pedantic butts right back down. \*\* Yes, the chinese language has characters, not alphabets. Thank heavens, coz else everytime we try and recite the ‘alphabet’, it’d be like reciting all the words in the dictionary. You know that, but we have phonetics too. Ok, i’m pretty sure there won’t be, but… does anyone here remember the pinyin song? ‘bo po mo fo, de te ne le…’ > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*Chicken in a car and the car won’t go. > > That’s the way to spell “Chicago.” \*\* Btw, I’m not from around your region, but i heard that Chicago was supposed to be pronounced as chi-go-go. Same as Arkansas was supposed to be pronounced ar-ken-saw, No? Someone correct me. And lastly, I count my knuckles too…seems like the fastest way to me… 🆒 soto ---
**Author:** ![Shera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Shera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shera)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235/60 "2002-12-04T04:09:13Z")
Arkansas is infact Ar-ken-saw, Chicago is pronounced Shi("i"as in sit)-kaw-go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-to-sing-the-alphabet/140235.md?page=4)