# They messed with the alphabet song?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 30, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717 "2019-10-30T21:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/1 "2019-10-30T21:42:53Z")
Nothing is sacred anymore. Someone changed the song and[removed the elemeno](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2019/10/28/alphabet-song-remix-sparks-outrage-online-sot-mxp-vpx.hln). That’s right NO MORE ELEMENO. It was the signature lyric of this otherwise dull song. Get this, they say it was confusing children. Just take a look at all the people in the world who can’t spell because they though ‘lmno’ was one letter. :dubious::rolleyes: There are problems in the world right now, no arguing against that, but putting a stop to this abomination has to be made a priority. Bring back the elemeno! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/2 "2019-10-30T21:47:48Z")
I thought you were going to say they modified it for Christmas. No “L”. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/3 "2019-10-30T21:53:18Z")
I’m not on a good place to watch videos (no sound). What does it say instead? “H I J K Cthulhu P”? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/4 "2019-10-30T22:01:45Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I’m not on a good place to watch videos (no sound). What does it say instead? “H I J K Cthulhu P”? Instead of LMNOP, they broke it up so it’s L-M-N pause O-P… and all without breaking the cadence from the first part of the alphabet, which in and of itself, is a bit jarring. Trevor Noah had a good reaction to it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vkQWryVzfEM/maxresdefault.jpg "The New Alphabet Song | The Daily Show | 29 October 2019") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkQWryVzfEM&t=31) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/5 "2019-10-30T22:05:39Z")
I saw the Daily Show bit on this as well, and yes it seems silly to those of us who learned the alphabet decades ago. But I assume someone who works with small children has identified the slurring of the LMNOP as a real problem and feels it necessary to make the separation between letters more distinct. I don’t know any small children so I don’t know if this is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/6 "2019-10-30T22:10:02Z")
But doesn’t that wreck the rhyme? A B C D E F G, H I J K LMNO P, Q R S, T U V, W, X, Y and Z. As beats go that’s 7/7/6/6; that’s what makes it scan, and thus what makes a song. If you take that out, isn’t it just a recitation? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/7 "2019-10-30T22:10:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I saw the Daily Show bit on this as well, and yes it seems silly to those of us who learned the alphabet decades ago. But I assume someone who works with small children has identified the slurring of the LMNOP as a real problem and feels it necessary to make the separation between letters more distinct. I don’t know any small children so I don’t know if this is a problem. Honestly, it probably does make it easier. I know as a kid the LMNOP part confused me when I first learned it as well, but you figure it out pretty quickly, even when you’re 4 or 5. With a grade school aged kid, I have to constantly remind myself that the way thing are taught are going to be different than when I was being taught the same things nearly 25 years ago. I remember when I was her age, hearing parents complain about ‘new math’ the same way I’ve complained about Common Core math. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/8 "2019-10-30T22:18:00Z")
I still prefer the Sesame Street version… “Ab cuh-def guh-jekyll muh-nop ker-stoov wix is… It’s the most unusual word I’ve ever seen…” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/9 "2019-10-30T22:44:26Z")
First it was Pluto. And now this. I spent twelve years learning all this stuff. Stop changing it on me. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/10 "2019-10-30T22:53:57Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > First it was Pluto. And now this. > > I spent twelve years learning all this stuff. Stop changing it on me. Didn’t you hear? It’s not called ‘twelve’ anymore. Now it’s ‘seconteen’. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/11 "2019-10-30T23:17:28Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Didn’t you hear? It’s not called ‘twelve’ anymore. Now it’s ‘seconteen’. > 😛 How old are you, like a thousand? It’s ‘halftwofour’ now. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/12 "2019-10-30T23:23:53Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > But doesn’t that wreck the rhyme? Well, the last line didn’t rhyme anyway. [/non-American] ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/13 "2019-10-30T23:27:06Z")
Cover and/or remix “Zero the Hero” and I can live with it. Make a techno version of every Beatles song out there, couldn’t care less. Screw with the Alphabet Song and I want you at the very least deported somewhere. Maybe Atlantis. With concrete overshoes. SOME THINGS ARE JUST SACRED DAMMIT! ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/14 "2019-10-30T23:37:32Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I remember when I was her age, hearing parents complain about ‘new math’ the same way I’ve complained about Common Core math. New Math (as a capitalized proper noun for a specific change in math instruction in the 1960s) is a good reminder that sometimes change is for the worse. Fortunately that got dropped like a hot rock after my older sisters dealt with that experiment. ---
**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 30, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/15 "2019-10-30T23:39:08Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > But doesn’t that wreck the rhyme? > > A B C D E F G, > H I J K LMNO P, > Q R S, T U V, > W, X, Y and Z. > > As beats go that’s 7/7/6/6; that’s what makes it scan, and thus what makes a song. If you take that out, isn’t it just a recitation? Try this: ```auto A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T W X Y and Z ``` Scans to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” much better than the one in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/16 "2019-10-30T23:41:57Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Try this: > > ```auto > > A B C D E F G > H I J K L M N > O P Q > R S T > W X Y and Z > > ``` > > Scans to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. Scans but doesn’t rhyme. Travesty! (And regarding the zedders - just another sign of how foreigners wreck everything. We should build walls along all our coasts. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/17 "2019-10-30T23:42:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > First it was Pluto. And now this. > > I spent twelve years learning all this stuff. Stop changing it on me. Why do you care if they change the alphabet song? Do you still need it at this age? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/18 "2019-10-30T23:43:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Why do you care if they change the alphabet song? Do you still need it at this age? Hey man, childhood is sacred. Michael Bay made the Transfomers and Turtles all ugly and thus deserves to die, because those things _matter_. ---
**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 30, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/19 "2019-10-30T23:45:40Z")
Wait, [where’d the time warp to 2004 come from](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=280597)? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/20 "2019-10-30T23:46:32Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > But doesn’t that wreck the rhyme? > > A B C D E F G, > H I J K LMNO P, > Q R S, T U V, > W, X, Y and Z. > > As beats go that’s 7/7/6/6; that’s what makes it scan, and thus what makes a song. If you take that out, isn’t it just a recitation? Correction: A B C D E F G, H I J K LMNO P, Q R S T U and V, W and X, Y, Z. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717.md?page=2)