# I vs J

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vs-j/410895>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 7, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vs-j/410895 "2007-07-07T20:45:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Shatneresque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Shatneresque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shatneresque)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vs-j/410895/1 "2007-07-07T20:45:45Z")

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With regard to the question of why there’s no J Street in Washington, I can add only that, based once again on my experience as a site guide with the Minnesota Historical Society, both letters were in common use by the early 1800s, and were indeed distinguished from one another by literate people (of whom there weren’t many in the early days of the Republic).

During the same period, the US Army had I and K companies, but no J companies. The reason for this was as prosaic as it was banal: based on their similar appearance, it was thought that using both letters could lead to confusion in the production and reading of written reports!

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vs-j/410895/2 "2007-07-07T23:26:12Z")

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[QUOTE=Shatneresque]  
With regard to the question of why there’s no J Street in Washington, I can add only that, based once again on my experience as a site guide with the Minnesota Historical Society, both letters were in common use by the early 1800s, and were indeed distinguished from one another by literate people (of whom there weren’t many in the early days of the Republic).  
[/QUOTE]  
It was the highly educated people that were _more_ likely to regard them as the same letter, just as they are in Latin.

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**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-vs-j/410895/3 "2007-07-07T23:38:58Z")

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[Here](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_262b.html) is a link to the column in question.