# How often do you recite the alphabet to yourself? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371 "2005-07-13T18:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/1 "2005-07-13T18:05:33Z")
I work in the puzzle biz, so I probably end up running through the alphabet in its entirety a couple of times a week – usually because I’m checking to make sure that all letters are used in one type of puzzle or another. I was just doing that exact thing, and flashed on myself singing the alphabet song into a tape-recorder when I was but a wee twickster. (I’m a boomer, so this was early, exciting technology back in the late '50s – we’re talking before transistor radios here.) This got me thinking – it turns out there’s a good reason that learning the alphabet at a young age is like learning your times tables – endlessly useful. Or is it? Occasionally when I’m filing I’ll have to sing a snippet of “the song” to myself – but I suspect it’s not that common to actually _use_ the alphabet. How often do you use it? ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/2 "2005-07-13T18:14:30Z")
I don’t know if this is what you’re asking, but whenever I have to look for a specific letter for filing, let’s say “M”, I have to sing the entire alphabet to myself in order to find it. I just can’t go straight to “M.” ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/3 "2005-07-13T18:16:43Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I don’t know if this is what you’re asking, but whenever I have to look for a specific letter for filing, let’s say “M”, I have to sing the entire alphabet to myself in order to find it. I just can’t go straight to “M.” I usually find that a simple “ellemmenopee” will help in those instances. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/4 "2005-07-13T19:08:00Z")
If I’m ever confronted with putting anything in alphabetical order the stretch between G and L gets me, and I have to sing it. I’d say it’s at least a few times a month. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/5 "2005-07-13T19:31:59Z")
What is this ‘alphabet’ of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/6 "2005-07-13T19:33:04Z")
**RandMcnally** – yeah, I’m guessing for most people it’s when they’re filing – I’m just curious to know if it comes up otherwise. For instance, if you’re looking something up in an alphabetical list (in printed form) – phone book, dictionary, hard copy of Maltin – do you need to recite the alphabet to get to where you’re going? On a somewhat related tangent, do people need to count off months, or can you just look at an 07/05 date and know that’s July? I think I was in my 30s before I didn’t have to count of “januaryfebruarymarchaprilmay” on my fingers. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/7 "2005-07-13T21:37:08Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > On a somewhat related tangent, do people need to count off months, or can you just look at an 07/05 date and know that’s July? I think I was in my 30s before I didn’t have to count of “januaryfebruarymarchaprilmay” on my fingers. I have to do that. The only month I know for sure is 8/ August because that’s the month I was born in. Also, I’ve been in the military for nearly a year now, I still have to do the whole, “subtract 12” thing for military time. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/8 "2005-07-13T21:56:49Z")
I still have to count off for months. Occasionally I do the ABC thing to verify what my Mark 1 optic scanners are telling me – that I’m in B and Samuel Delany, say, is two over. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/9 "2005-07-13T22:03:43Z")
A long time ago, to help in some personal cataloguing endeavors, I memorized the numerical placement of the letters (F=6, O=15, W=23, etc.). Since then, I never have to perform the ABC song or perform any type of recitation. Once in a while, someone will come up with a Can-you-do-the-ABCs-backwards challenge, which is always pretty easy–so the only time I do actually recite the alphabet is in reverse order. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/10 "2005-07-14T03:48:12Z")
Mainly I say it when I’m having a really bad day at work and am looking for books in the uncatalogued part of the library stacks, where everything’s in alphabetical order. Most days I can jump right to where I need to be, but occasionally I blank. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-recite-the-alphabet-to-yourself/312371/11 "2005-07-14T09:51:04Z")
> [@mr bus guy](#): > > I usually find that a simple “ellemmenopee” will help in those instances. This is me. I don’t do the whole alphabet, just little snippets. As for converting the months into numbers, I use what I call “landmarks in time.” Mostly birthdays, like **RandMcnally**.