# How do you spell the letter "A"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2014, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913 "2014-03-05T06:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/1 "2014-03-05T06:42:41Z")
You know how you write certain expressions that aren’t really words, but just…expressions? Like “ughh” or “ahem”. I would like to know how to spell the expression that sounds like the letter ‘a’. You know. Like, ‘a’, yo. Please advise. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/2 "2014-03-05T06:52:29Z")
Why not “A”? Or do you mean “Eh”? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/3 "2014-03-05T07:03:02Z")
Ay. [(Wiki Alphabet.)](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiAlphabet) ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/4 "2014-03-05T07:13:41Z")
If it’s short for “hey” I’d spell it 'ey. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/5 "2014-03-05T07:15:01Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Ay. > > [(Wiki Alphabet.)](http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiAlphabet) I believe you are correct. I’m disappointed I never figured this out. I am so good at spelling out human exasperation. I have a friend who says, “mnyaah” when annoyed, and he was impressed when I spelled it in a text to him. I should have known “ay” was correct. Most people were spelling it, “aye”. I knew that is wrong, because that rhymes with “lie” and they were saying, “ay, yo” so, I knew it couldn’t be ‘aye’ since that didn’t fit. But yeah. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/6 "2014-03-05T09:16:20Z")
i figure out most sounds, but i never could be happy with Chun Li’s sounds for a question mark - “hmn?” what do you think it should be? [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A9llZAIhvc#t=88) (around 1:28) ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/7 "2014-03-05T16:27:18Z")
“Eh.” Seems obvious to me but then I’m Canadian. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/8 "2014-03-05T16:39:00Z")
Hehe. I was in Puerto Rico, struggling to use some of my miniscule Spanish. I got the cute bartender’s attention and pointed to the bottle of Absolut and carefully said, “Como se dice “vodka” en Espanol?” She smiled, nodded her head, and very slowly enunciated, "v o d k a ". Good times! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/9 "2014-03-05T16:41:40Z")
Ay. Fonzie alphabet. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/10 "2014-03-05T17:41:10Z")
[AYYY!](http://a1.s6img.com/cdn/0018/p/6482398_3358105_lz.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/11 "2014-03-05T18:03:48Z")
When I’m in the right mood, it’s spelled an enthusiastic: “fuckin’ A!” ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/12 "2014-03-05T20:00:02Z")
This post reminds me of a Scripps National Spelling Bee not too many years ago when the word was “aitch”; the definition was something like “the sound of the eighth letter of the alphabet.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/13 "2014-03-05T20:55:52Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > “Eh.” Seems obvious to me but then I’m Canadian. The problem is that that can also indicate the [ɛ] sound, aka **e** as in b **e** t. Plus, I’m not entirely sure the Canadian version is a diphthong. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/14 "2014-03-05T20:59:22Z")
I remember when “h” was in the Scripp’s spelling bee. I also remember that the dictionary my family had when I grew up had a big entry at the beginning of each letter that went through its history, the history of how it’s been written, how it’s spelled, etc. Interesting stuff. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/15 "2014-03-05T21:12:19Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The problem is that that can also indicate the [ɛ] sound, aka **e** as in b **e** t. Plus, I’m not entirely sure the Canadian version is a diphthong. That’s what she said. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/16 "2014-03-05T23:58:09Z")
Ba-ziiing! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/17 "2014-03-06T01:07:53Z")
Um…A. Why would I need to add additional letters to a letter that says its own name? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/18 "2014-03-06T01:33:36Z")
a=a ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-spell-the-letter-a/682913/19 "2014-03-06T03:56:47Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > That’s what she said. I don’t know why that works, but it does.