# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/21 "2019-10-31T01:03:59Z")
> [@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” much better than the one in the OP. Oddly enough, that’s the way I sing it to my kids sometimes. I’ve given them both versions. Is this really new? Other than preserving the stupid rhyme, it never really did make sense to me why one would jam “LMNOP” in that little space there when it scans perfectly fine and requires no shoehorning with the above method. ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/22 "2019-10-31T01:05:15Z")
The melody to John Coltrane’s Giant Steps has 26 notes in it. Just sayin’. ---
**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 31, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/23 "2019-10-31T01:12:48Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Didn’t you hear? It’s not called ‘twelve’ anymore. Now it’s ‘seconteen’. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > How old are you, like a thousand? It’s ‘halftwofour’ now. Back in my day, it was called the set of numerals between eleven and thirteen. ---
**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 31, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/24 "2019-10-31T01:14:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Why do you care if they change the alphabet song? Do you still need it at this age? I’ll admit I have no immediate plans to visit Pluto either. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/25 "2019-10-31T01:30:35Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Well, the last line didn’t rhyme anyway. [/non-American] Generations of Australian (and, I expect, British) schoolchildren have dealt with this problem by defiantly belting out “double-you ex wye ZED!!!” in a ‘yeah, we know it doesn’t rhyme - not OUR problem’ kind of a way I wish I could find a link to anyone singing the ‘Australian Alphabet Song’ my sister-in-law taught me one time. Sung to a modified ‘Polly Wolly Doodle’ - ends the phrases on C,G,M then Q,U,Z. Works great. THIS current monstrosity on the other hand, is only going to swell the already-huge ranks of otherwise-functional poetically-illiterate adults who couldn’t recognise a valid rhyme if it walked up and challenged them to a duel. It’s painful to listen to. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/26 "2019-10-31T01:36:38Z")
> [@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” much better than the one in the OP. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Oddly enough, that’s the way I sing it to my kids sometimes. Do they wonder what happened to U and V? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/27 "2019-10-31T02:01:56Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Generations of Australian (and, I expect, British) schoolchildren have dealt with this problem by defiantly belting out “double-you ex wye ZED!!!” in a ‘yeah, we know it doesn’t rhyme - not OUR problem’ kind of a way. Reminds me of my High School French classes. Doobleveh? Egrek? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/28 "2019-10-31T04:41:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ll admit I have no immediate plans to visit Pluto either. It’s a Mickey Mouse planet. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/29 "2019-10-31T05:48:35Z")
I gave up on this whole idea of edjakation when they started messing with my favorite dinosaur. I couldn’t handle the shock of hearing that the brontosaurus didn’t really exist…it was just an apatosaurus with the wrong name. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/30 "2019-10-31T07:12:24Z")
Correction: don’t you know it’s edjUMAKation?? (what do they teach them in these schools…) ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/31 "2019-10-31T07:24:38Z")
Honestly, I always thought that was the stupidest part of the song. I mean, if you rip off “Twinkle Twinkle,” and only later discover that it doesn’t have enough syllables, rushing through them like that is just lame. I can’t believe anyone likes that part of the song. I always thought, “Who is the idiot who chose this tune? It doesn’t even fit.” ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/32 "2019-10-31T07:59:34Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I wish I could find a link to anyone singing the ‘Australian Alphabet Song’ my sister-in-law taught me one time. Sung to a modified ‘Polly Wolly Doodle’ - ends the phrases on C,G,M then Q,U,Z. Works great. I love this! I’m going to use it. I’m fucking sick of ‘Twinkle Twinkle’. My daughter used to sing it “MMMOP”. She still learned to read okay . ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/33 "2019-10-31T08:42:40Z")
My first grade teacher tried to teach us something like this in the mid-90s, for the same reason. It didn’t take. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/34 "2019-10-31T09:59:46Z")
I’m sure that I remember something–likely a cartoon–having a bad guy named Elimino Pio or something very similar, but Google is failing me. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/35 "2019-10-31T11:25:12Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Do they wonder what happened to U and V? Oops. Last line is obviously U V W, X Y Z. ---
**Author:** ![yendis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ed8c4c/32.png) [@yendis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yendis)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/36 "2019-10-31T11:31:00Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I gave up on this whole idea of edjakation when they started messing with my favorite dinosaur. > > I couldn’t handle the shock of hearing that the brontosaurus didn’t really exist…it was just an apatosaurus with the wrong name. [Good news!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brontosaurus) ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/37 "2019-10-31T12:02:39Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > 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…” Speaking of Sesame Street, that sure SOUNDS like Big Bird’s voice doing the new version. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/38 "2019-10-31T12:03:35Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 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. ++. I support this Pitting. Trevor Noah’s response makes sense: “If my kid can’t figure out L-M-N-O-P I don’t want to make it easy for him. I just want to know so I can stop saving up for his college.” ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/39 "2019-10-31T13:32:25Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I thought you were going to say they modified it for Christmas. > > No “L”. Horrible, just horrible. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717/40 "2019-10-31T14:42:03Z")
I don’t know who **“They”** is, but the song is a cultural thing that is passed down generation to generation. My mom taught me and my siblings the song when we were toddlers. My wife and I taught it to our children. So I’m sure that my kids will teach it my grandchildren, if they have any. Making cultural shifts like this are difficult, and posting a youtube video of a change, doesn’t mean it will occur. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-messed-with-the-alphabet-song/842717.md?page=3)