# They changed the alphabet song! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931 "2004-10-13T01:54:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/21 "2004-10-13T20:25:59Z")
What if this simple change to the alphabet song turns out to fix everything that is wrong with our eductional system? No more poor readers! No more poor spellers! The U.S. soars to the top of test scores! The change was brilliant, I tell you, brilliant. I suggest that next we get rid of the number “9”. This would make math 10% easier. “Happy happy now are we. We can say our A B Cs.” We don’t care what you think of us. QRS - TUV ---
**Author:** ![Aragowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/da6949/32.png) [@Aragowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aragowyn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/22 "2004-10-13T21:04:29Z")
I was all set to take this to the Pit and rail against the edumacators who want to spoonfed today’s tots instead of making them learn to figure out ellemenopee all on their own… but then… I realized… No, it can’t be! Is it really? Yes it is! Get ready to have your world all shaken up! _ **We** _’ve been learning the song wrong! :eek: They’re teaching it right with the new way! Yeah, I denied it as well, but look at the 3rd and 4th lines of the original song (ok it’s not the original song since the twinkle star lyrics were added centuries after the original melody was created, but whatever for now): _Up above the world so high, Like a Diamond in the sky_ Now, match each syllable with its corresponding letter and you’ll see the way we were taught doesn’t match up too well, and it treats ‘diamond’ as having only 2 syllables: Up–a--bove–the–world–so–high Q—R----S-------------T----U----V or, as some learned it: Q—R----S-----T------U—and—V Like–a--“die”–mond–in–the–sky dub–ya—X -------------Y–and–Z But the new crazy way the kids are now learning it, well it now matches like a charm, plus the 3 syllables in the letter W match exactly with the 3 in ‘diamond’: Up–a--bove–the–world–so–high N—O----P-----Q------R-----S----T Like–a--die–ah–mond–in–the–sky U-----V–dub–ble–yu-----X----Y----Z So there you go! We were all gyped into learning it wrong!! Who’d a thunk it? And it’s ‘play with me’ gosh dernit. Shouldn’t I get rewarded with play for learning my ABCs? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/23 "2004-10-13T21:20:59Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > And don’t get me started on the people who sing it ‘won’t you come and play with me.’ It’s ‘next time won’t you sing with me’, dammit! Unless you’re Porky Pig, in which case it’s “I can sing in any key, ABCDEFG.” ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2004, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/24 "2004-10-13T21:40:50Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Interesting. I (and the husband of a friend of mine) both learned it as “Tell me what you think of me”. That’s how I learned it, too. Perhaps that explains why I ended up attaching so much importance to approval from authority figures. 😉 My younger brother, incidentally, used to sing the part of the song in question as “elementopee,” which annoyed our parents quite a bit… ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/25 "2004-10-14T02:58:19Z")
In college, so very long ago, I had a friend who could sing the song with the alphabet in an entirely different order. A major mind bender, I assure you. Same tune, but just an absolute random sounding order. We did make him do it over and over, and checked to make sure he did all the letters, which he did. He did rhymes with u and w, along with the ee sound rhymes. He claimed not to have originated it, but rather had learned it in summer camp, as a kid. Tris ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/26 "2004-10-14T04:26:38Z")
And for the last verse: Z Y X W V U T [pause] S R Q P ONMLK [pause] J I H [pause] G F E [pause] D [pause] C [pause] B [pause] A [pause] Now I know my Z-Y-X’s. Next time let’s all walk to Texas. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/27 "2004-10-14T05:53:35Z")
And the last two alphabet sections don’t even rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/28 "2004-10-14T06:34:29Z")
Another vote for “tell me what you think of me.” If [this site](http://hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/maps.php) is looking for new material to map, we’ve stumbled upon a suggestion. Then again, the differences may be more age-related than geographically determined. How do British/Canadian/etc. people end the song? “W and X, Y, Z(ed), now my ABC’s are said?” Oh, and I seem to recall hearing both the “Q, R, S, T, U, V” version and the one with “and” interspersed between “S” and “T”. Also “W, X, Y, and Z”, but less frequently than “W and X, Y, Z(ee)”. FWIW, I was born in 1959 and grew up in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/29 "2004-10-14T16:35:42Z")
I like the Alphabet Theatre theme from Sesame Street: ABCDE-CDEFG-HIJK-LMNNNN-OP-QRSTU-RSTUV-STUV-W-X-YZZZZ(aaand aaaaa bbbb cccccccccc) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/30 "2004-10-14T17:22:47Z")
I hate the new way because I fear change. But I had a problem because I learned it ellenemopee. I didn’t realize I had it wrong until we learned to alphabetize and I kept screwing up in that neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/31 "2004-10-14T18:19:45Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > And the last two alphabet sections don’t even rhyme. I’m not such a big fan of smilies but that got a 🙂 from me. And Sternvogel, the way I learned it was: “…w, x y and z(ed) Now I’ve learned my ABCs Next time won’t you sing with me” T’wasn’t really a problem. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/32 "2004-10-14T18:32:18Z")
> [@PastAllReason](#): > > “…w, x y and z(ed) > Now I’ve learned my ABCs > Next time won’t you sing with me” How is “z(ed)” pronounced? “…y and z left parenthesis ‘ed’ right parenthesis. Now I’ve learned my ABCs…” ? Or do you just make parenthesis signs with your hands? ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/33 "2004-10-14T20:06:17Z")
I swear I once heard my daughter sing it this way: “H - I - J - K - elephant’ll pee” Laughed so hard I threw out my back. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/34 "2004-10-15T03:45:18Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > How is “z(ed)” pronounced? > “…y and z left parenthesis ‘ed’ right parenthesis. Now I’ve learned my ABCs…” ? > Or do you just make parenthesis signs with your hands? It is pronounced zed. I was using Sternvogel’s method from a few posts up for emphasizing the Canadian/British way of saying the last letter of the alphabet. Although I also have to say that zee is creeping its way across the 49th parallel. ---
**Author:** ![Waccoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Waccoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waccoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/35 "2004-10-15T07:48:36Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > A B C D E F G (pause) H I J K ELLL M (pause) N O P Q R S T (pause) U V W X Y Z In Britain, I was singing it like that thirty five years ago - except the final pause came after the U rather than the T. Glad we still have _some_ influence. ---
**Author:** ![Waccoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Waccoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waccoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931/36 "2004-10-15T07:52:18Z")
Come to think of it, we had slight pauses after the C and Q as well. Must be a different tune. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-changed-the-alphabet-song/268931.md?page=1)