# Why doesn't H come before G in the alphabet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2014, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656 "2014-07-21T12:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/41 "2014-07-22T11:05:20Z")
I think 7 should come before 3. And C should be replaced with CH. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/42 "2014-07-22T11:08:49Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I love that story. That’s just charming. > [@Gary\_T](#): > > I would agree. 😉 No French letters though. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/43 "2014-07-22T14:26:51Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > And I’m sure you have your reasons for not sharing them with us. Jerk. OK, simmer down. **guizot** , stringing people along for fun is what we call trolling, so unless you want to be dinged for that, I advise you come clean and participate in good faith and not waste people’s time. ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/44 "2014-07-22T14:52:38Z")
A B C D GOLDFISH L M N O GOLDFISH O S A R! Why did A get to be first? ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/45 "2014-07-22T14:53:08Z")
Weird: my fiancée thinks the same thing, and only mentioned it to me last week. He reasoning was that G is a heavier letter than H so should be lower down the order. Yup. I know that the OP isn’t my fiancée, so that makes two people that think H is in the wrong place. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/46 "2014-07-22T14:54:35Z")
M R Ducks. – M R not! O S A R, C M E D B D Wangs? – L I B, M R Ducks! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/47 "2014-07-22T15:11:01Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > M R Ducks. > > – M R not! > > O S A R, C M E D B D Wangs? > > – L I B, M R Ducks! Holy shit, I haven’t heard or thought of this in about 20 years. Crazy. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/48 "2014-07-22T15:11:27Z")
because 7 8 9. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/49 "2014-07-22T15:13:51Z")
Because if it did, then “77” would mean you’re a Nazi. ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/50 "2014-07-22T15:16:19Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yeah, I realize it goes way back, to the Phoenicians, or some other ancient script, but somewhere along the line it seems to me someone messed up. How come F doesn’t come before b? same question. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/51 "2014-07-22T15:24:51Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > How come F doesn’t come before b? same question. I have my reasons. _Sly look of mystery and intrigue_ ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/52 "2014-07-23T00:24:13Z")
Double Foolscap writes: \> He reasoning was that G is a heavier letter than H so should be lower down the \> order. Does he have synesthesia? That sounds a little like it. People will think that letters have weights and such, mixing together various senses like vision and perception of weights. ---
**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:** [July 23, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/53 "2014-07-23T01:05:25Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > OK, simmer down. > > **guizot** , stringing people along for fun is what we call trolling, so unless you want to be dinged for that, I advise you come clean and participate in good faith and not waste people’s time. My reasoning is that if alphabetic order is completely arbitrary (and I couldn’t tell if it was), then it’s sometimes a good idea to just recognize that, as it would be with a lot of other things. So it’s party a rhetorical question, more than anything. (And I’m not stringing anyone along–I just have work to do IRL, so I can’t post a lot.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/54 "2014-07-23T05:23:39Z")
Language is an agreed-upon system of communications. Whether or not it is arbitrary is besides the point. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/55 "2014-07-23T05:36:33Z")
Not sure about the H & J story, but I do know that Q is the bastard child of C + Y, and with pirates laughing to its right and bodily fluids to its left, no wonder it is so neurotic that it always must cling to U. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/56 "2014-07-23T12:01:15Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think 7 should come before 3. > > And C should be replaced with CH. Oh please no, we just got rid of that one as a separate letter in Spanish dictionaries! ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/57 "2014-07-23T12:16:16Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Oh please no, we just got rid of that one as a separate letter in Spanish dictionaries! When are you guys getting rid of the n with the squiggly line? Maybe make a deal with the Germans tossing the umlauts. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/58 "2014-07-23T14:02:10Z")
Ah ha! Yes, it IS because of that song! ---
**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:** [July 23, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/59 "2014-07-23T14:16:27Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Are you saying it’s supposed to be Jesus G. Christ? No, just that Jesus H. Christ should come first. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656/60 "2014-07-23T20:51:02Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > My reasoning is that if alphabetic order is completely arbitrary (and I couldn’t tell if it was), then it’s sometimes a good idea to just recognize that, as it would be with a lot of other things. What in the world is this supposed to mean? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-doesnt-h-come-before-g-in-the-alphabet/693656.md?page=4)