# Peeved about misuse of Alternative Alphabets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 14, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857 "2005-05-14T20:23:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/1 "2005-05-14T20:23:24Z")
Howdy Folks, Just watched Elektra and I’m not going to get into the merits or demerits of that movie. One thing I did notice that sparked off the peeve detector was the substitution of several greek (upper and lower case) charaters for the non-equivalent roman characters. Examples: lowercase rho for lower case p, uppercase sigma for upper case E, uppercase lambda for a capital A. I don’t mind if they’re going to at least use the phonetic equivalents (use phi for a ph or f sound; the lower alphas, deltas and taus were at least done okay. Unralated characters are distracting. Likewise the use of the backwards R (pronounced “ya”, in russian), for the roman R in an attempt to look cool/authentic in Russian themed movie titles, just drives me around the bend. Does anyone else get distracted by this sort of thing, or even notice? -DF ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/2 "2005-05-14T20:40:22Z")
I tend to notice but not care too too much. Unless I already dislike the movie, in which case I’ll use it as further support for its suckiness in my eyes. Not rational, but…hey. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/3 "2005-05-14T21:27:36Z")
I don’t know any other alphabets, so I can’t really. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/4 "2005-05-14T21:31:48Z")
Ooh, that practice really gets up my nose! Take this perfectly good historical fiction book for children by Gloria Whelan. It takes place in Russia, so the publishers just had to screw up [the cover](http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0064408795/ref=sib_dp_pt/103-9644293-2337402#reader-link) by spelling the A’s with Russian D’s. The ‘ya’ thing drives me crazy too. I have a CD by Boris Grebenshikov upon which all the R’s are backwards. It’s not cool and edgy! It’s lame! OTOH, in the Asterix comics the script is written differently for Greeks–everything is more angular and the E’s are sigmas, and it doesn’t bug me. It’s done for several different nationalities, though I can’t remember the others. Maybe because I was a kid when I started reading them? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/5 "2005-05-14T23:43:36Z")
I notice it. And I find it blinkin’ annoying … but what’s to be done? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/6 "2005-05-14T23:48:03Z")
How about using numbers for letters? The new TV show, “Numb3rs,” for instance. Numbthreers? “Se7en.” Se-sevenen? From a graphic design point of view, I understand. From a logical-thinking one, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/7 "2005-05-15T00:05:49Z")
Heh…reminds me of the time I got the Billy Joel Concert CD (from his Russian concert). The title is in Cyrillic script and for the longest time I wondered what the hell “KOHUEPT” meant. Hey, I was 14. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/8 "2005-05-15T06:33:22Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Heh…reminds me of the time I got the Billy Joel Concert CD (from his Russian concert). The title is in Cyrillic script and for the longest time I wondered what the hell “KOHUEPT” meant. > > Hey, I was 14. Isn’t it KOHCEPT? is the U a typo? Even if it isn’t I’m Impressed that the phonetics work. Yay! Score one for the Good Guys! -DF ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/9 "2005-05-15T07:52:07Z")
> [@Dancer\_Flight](#): > > Isn’t it KOHCEPT? is the U a typo? > Even if it isn’t I’m Impressed that the phonetics work. Yay! Score one for the Good Guys! > > -DF [Here’s](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00000DCHK/ref=dp_product-image-only_0/002-4825016-1224068?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=5174&s=music) a shot of the album cover for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/10 "2005-05-15T08:39:06Z")
It’s not really a U, but a Cyrillic character pronounced like “ts”. Score one for Billy! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Kenneth\_Noisewater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@Dr.Kenneth\_Noisewater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Kenneth_Noisewater)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/11 "2005-05-15T09:03:35Z")
What’s with the umlauts in Motley Crue? ---
**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:** [May 15, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/12 "2005-05-15T11:39:26Z")
Yöü mëän **Mötlëÿ Crüë**? Ï thïnk ït’s äll thë fäült of **Blüë Öÿstër Cült**. Thëÿ stärtëd ït. Ï lïkëd höw Spinal tap put the umlaut in the wrong place—over the n. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/13 "2005-05-15T14:01:23Z")
> [@Dancer\_Flight](#): > > Likewise the use of the backwards R (pronounced “ya”, in russian), for the roman R in an attempt to look cool/authentic in Russian themed movie titles, just drives me around the bend. > > Does anyone else get distracted by this sort of thing, or even notice? The use of “Ya” in place of an R to look Russian has always annoyed me since I first learned the least little bit about the Cyrillic alphabet. Less frequently seen, but just as bothersome, is when the Cyrillic “I” character, which looks like a backwards N, is used in place of N. I’ve also seen something recently in which a Sigma was used in place of E. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/14 "2005-05-15T18:22:35Z")
> [@Dr. Kenneth Noisewater](#): > > What’s with the umlauts in Motley Crue? Ahem. [Heavy Metal Umlaut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_umlaut). ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/15 "2005-05-15T18:38:04Z")
> [@Dancer\_Flight](#): > > Likewise the use of the backwards R (pronounced “ya”, in russian), for the roman R in an attempt to look cool/authentic in Russian themed movie titles, just drives me around the bend. So it’s pronounced “Tet-ya-is”? On the subject of the Heavy Metal Umlaut: An old friend of mine was in a metal garage band called “Tork”. The umlaut was over the R. Which was not backwards, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/16 "2005-05-15T19:18:57Z")
Funny, this recently came up on MusicBrainz (the music id site). They have a master list of artists, and someone changed Korn to Ko?n (because that’s how the band does it). The Russian-speakers were particularly unhappy, because it’s not pronounced like that if you can actually read the cyrillic letters. It has been changed back. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/17 "2005-05-15T19:51:05Z")
My parents, being both aging hippies and blessed with odd senses of humor, insisted on pronouncing the effects of umlauts on band names. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/18 "2005-05-15T20:07:10Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > So it’s pronounced “Tet-ya-is”? Yeah, the graphic designers for the game are just as guilty of this crap as the rest of the title designers in the world. It is probably better spelled ТЭТРИС. And yes, it is “Toys Ya Us”, at least in my head. -DF ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/19 "2005-05-15T20:12:24Z")
> [@Dancer\_Flight](#): > > It is probably better spelled ТЭТРИС. D’oh, make that “ТЭТРЫС” and goofy li’l me will pronounce “NIИ” as Nee!, not Nine Inch Nails. Although the spelling makes no sense in either language. -DF ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857/20 "2005-05-16T09:42:41Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > So it’s pronounced “Tet-ya-is”? I cannot count the number of times you have already said what I was going to say in a thread. I wrote my name in Cyrillic for my friend, and she laughed and said it looked like “Ann Pafeptn”. That’s how she pronounced it. I laughed. This is irrelevant, I know. There is also the restaurant, [Mega Wyaips](http://www.shopsquareone.com/square/storeimages/MegaWraps04.jpg). And I hear there’s a bad band called [Koyan](http://hem.passagen.se/agm/Korn/Gfx/Korn_logo.GIF)! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peeved-about-misuse-of-alternative-alphabets/303857.md?page=2)