NationStates Jolt Archive

In your opinion, what is the most useless letter in the English language?

Q obviously. It's too shy to appear on its own most of the time and needs support from U.

C

It's pointless, just use a damn S or a K. It's only good for Ch, and even then you could use a K half the time. It would be far less complicated that way.

C

It's pointless, just use a damn S or a K. It's only good for Ch, and even then you could use a K half the time. It would be far less complicated that way.
Also, 'ch' is phonetically the same as 'tsh'.

I say 'F'. What can it do that 'ph' can't do?

I say 'F'. What can it do that 'ph' can't do?
Occur twice in a row. Phluphphle doesn't work as a word.

i say 'j'. i can't think of any good words with 'j' in that don't have better alternatives. leave it for the christians, the rest of us can do without.

C

It's pointless, just use a damn S or a K. It's only good for Ch, and even then you could use a K half the time. It would be far less complicated that way.

i'd have said 'c' except my surname begins with 'c' and i'm not changing my name.

Q obviously. It's too shy to appear on its own most of the time and needs support from U.
And those immigrant infidel Qs go around without the decency of being accompanied by a U.

Occur twice in a row. Phluphphle doesn't work as a word.

"Phluphle" works pretty well, though.

I'll go with Q. Most uses of "Qu" can be substituted with "Kw" without much difficulty, at least in English. Kwick, go ask the Kween for airfare to Kwebek (or Kebek if you prefer...see, changed a "C" there too.)

With C, you can generally phase it out with K and S, but what about words like "change" and "chip"? I could eat potato jips and jange my klothes, but then I'd sound like I had a kold.

i say 'j'. i can't think of any good words with 'j' in that don't have better alternatives. leave it for the christians, the rest of us can do without.

And you live in Jersey.

Q, it's not commonly used, almost never appears by itself. Though it is the chosen designation for the most amusing star trek race ever.

i say 'j'. i can't think of any good words with 'j' in that don't have better alternatives. leave it for the christians, the rest of us can do without.

Good job to bring hatred into a thread about useless letters in the alphabet.

I went with "C".

i say 'j'. i can't think of any good words with 'j' in that don't have better alternatives. leave it for the christians, the rest of us can do without.
What would you replace it with?
'g'?
then you'd get:
juice = guice
jet = get
jeep = geep
Jarden = Garden
Blue Jays = Blue Gays

gust doen't work, I'm afraid.

Good job to bring hatred into a thread about useless letters in the alphabet.

I went with "C".

I and J were considered interchangable until into the 18th century atleast. Hence why DC has no J street.

With C, you can generally phase it out with K and S, but what about words like "change" and "chip"? I could eat potato jips and jange my klothes, but then I'd sound like I had a kold.
'tships' and 'tshange'. 'ch' is phonetically identical to 'tsh'.

Good job to bring hatred into a thread about useless letters in the alphabet.

I went with "C".

how is that hatred? the only useful use of the letter j i could think of at the time was in jesus and naturally we can leave jesus to the christians (and any muslims who concern themselves particularly with that prophet) seeing as they're the only one's he is relevant to. if you're a christian, stop trying to be persecuted. if you're not, what concern is it of yours anyway?

how is that hatred? the only useful use of the letter j i could think of at the time was in jesus
Just spell it Iesus, as it was spelt for centuries.

And you live in Jersey.
bugger, didn't think of that:rolleyes: . well using a g for gersey would work cuz it would be soft. it would need a u after it to make a hard sound as in guernsey.
What would you replace it with?
'g'?
then you'd get:
juice = guice
jet = get
jeep = geep
Jarden = Garden
Blue Jays = Blue Gays

gust doen't work, I'm afraid.

we could put an accent on it. not sure which one would work but english needs accents they make writing look prettier.

maybe introducing some other letters would be good, so we'd get rid of sh, ch and th groups.

use the Czech alphabet!

What would you replace it with?
'g'?
then you'd get:
juice = guice
jet = get
jeep = geep
Jarden = Garden
Blue Jays = Blue Gays

gust doen't work, I'm afraid.
Phonetically, j (usually) represents the sound d-ezh (ezh is the name of the sound that occurs in the middle of decision, and is basically a voiced version of 'sh'). I guess we could therefore replace j with 'dzh'.

bugger, didn't think of that:rolleyes: . well using a g for gersey would work cuz it would be soft. it would need a u after it to make a hard sound as in guernsey.


we could put an accent on it. not sure which one would work but english needs accents they make writing look prettier.


Mmmm Guernsey and Gersey - I like it

how is that hatred? the only useful use of the letter j i could think of at the time was in jesus and naturally we can leave jesus to the christians (and any muslims who concern themselves particularly with that prophet) seeing as they're the only one's he is relevant to. if you're a christian, stop trying to be persecuted. if you're not, what concern is it of yours anyway?

Not trying to be persecuted (as fun of a pasttime as that must be). Just responding to the previous statement you failed to notice where it was mentioned "Leave it to the Christians, the rest of the world can do without." I thought it was odd to disparage Christians in a thread having nothing to do with religion but letters of the alphabet. That's all.

i personily dislike 's'.
when talking i usually say 'pacific' for 'specific'.

i personily dislike 's'.
when talking i usually say 'pacific' for 'specific'.

illy od

This thread seems ideal for this article:
Having chosen English as the preferred language in the EEC, the European Parliament has commissioned a feasibility study in ways of improving efficient in communications between government departments.

European officials have often pointed out that English spelling is unnecessarily difficult — for example, cough, plough, rough, through, and thorough. What is clearly needed is a phased program of changes to iron out these anomalies. The program would, of course, be administered by a committee staff at top levels by participating nations.

In the first year, for example, the committee would suggest using ‘s' instead of the soft ‘c'. Sertainly sivil servants in all sities would resieve this news with joy. Then the hard ‘c' could be replaced by ‘k', since both letters are pronounsed alike. Not only would this klear up konfusion in the minds of klerikal workers, but keyboards kould be made with one less letter.

There would be growing enthusiasm when in the sekond year, it kould be announsed that the troublesome ‘ph' would henseforth be written ‘f'. This would make words like ‘fotograf' twenty per sent shorter in print.

In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reash the stage where more komplikated shanges are possible. Governments would enkourage the removal of double letters, which have always been a deterent to akurate speling.

We would al agre that the horible mes of silent ‘e's in the languag is disgrasful. Therfor we kould drop thes and kontinu to read and writ as though nothing had hapend. By this tim it would be four years sins the skem began and peopl would be reseptiv to steps sutsh as replasing ‘th' by ‘z'. Perhaps zen ze funktion of ‘w' kould be taken on by ‘v', vitsch is, after al, half a ‘w'. Shortly after zis, ze unesesary ‘o' kould be dropd from vords kontaining ‘ou'. Similar arguments vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.

Kontinuing zis proses yer after yer, ve vud eventuli have a reli sensibl riten styl. After tventi yers zer vud be no mor trubls or difikultis, and evrivun vud find it ezi tu understand ech ozer. Ze drems of ze guvermnt vud finali hav kum tru.
no idea where's it from. Been doing the rounds on the 'net for years.

'tships' and 'tshange'. 'ch' is phonetically identical to 'tsh'.

Either that or just invent another letter...wait, that defeats the purpose...never mind. I'll go buy some tships with my spare tshange.

Just spell it Iesus, as it was spelt for centuries.

Wouldn't that render the pronunciation "Yee-sus"? Of course, that's closer to how his name was said anyway, if I am not mistaken (during his time, he was known as "Yeshua," a name that translates better as "Joshua.") Iesus is the savior, I suppose.

Q obviously. It's too shy to appear on its own most of the time and needs support from U.

No! We need 'Q' to make otherwise ordinary places and peoples seem threatening or exotic.

Would we really have gotten behind a war in Irack? I don't think so.

i personily dislike 's'.
when talking i usually say 'pacific' for 'specific'.

I'm particularly fond of the South Pacific. Is there a specific Pacific you like better than the others?

we could put an accent on it. not sure which one would work but english needs accents they make writing look prettier.
Also make it a lot easier to teach and learn.
Trying to get kids understand that there's two ways of saying 'g', 'c', all the vowels, 'y' is a royal pain in the arse.
I waste so much time having to go over and over the rules for knowing whether it's hard or soft.
An accent to show which it is would life so much easier for both teacher and student.

Wish someone had thought of it earlier.

Come to think of it - why doesn't English have accents? All other European languages do.

Come to think of it - why doesn't English have accents? All other European languages do.
Accents were banned after the war(s) with France. Possibly.

i personily dislike 's'.
when talking i usually say 'pacific' for 'specific'.

Way to speak ignorantly.

i personily dislike 's'.
when talking i usually say 'pacific' for 'specific'.
I frequently say 'specific' when I mean 'pacific', but that's 'cause a 'p' sound followed by and 's' sound seems the most effective tongue-twister for me (on the other hand, I have no trouble with 'she sells sea shells...').

No! We need 'Q' to make otherwise ordinary places and peoples seem threatening or exotic.

Would we really have gotten behind a war in Irack? I don't think so.

No, but "Irak" has a quality about it that makes it seem a little...not quite American. It can still sound threatening enough.

And if you wanted to kwit your job or kwit smoking, it might not seem as intimidating. People might be scared to quit smoking, but to kwit smoking seemed doable.

Accents were banned after the war(s) with France. Possibly.
Wow. Bet that showed those damn Frenchies.
"Ha! Not only have we beaten you, Napolean, but also we're going to write everything WITHOUT accents! You won't know if the 'g' is hard or soft! Ah, hahahahha! We will laugh at your pathetic attempts at speaking english and saying 'juice', when you mean 'goose'. Take that!"

Not trying to be persecuted (as fun of a pasttime as that must be). Just responding to the previous statement you failed to notice where it was mentioned "Leave it to the Christians, the rest of the world can do without." I thought it was odd to disparage Christians in a thread having nothing to do with religion but letters of the alphabet. That's all.

your looking for insult where there was none. i think that statement quite clearly transmits my attitude to christianity and religion in general, which is 'i don't care what you believe, just don't let your beliefs interfere with me'. if you find insult in such a position that's your business.

Get rid of the "double U" (W) it is the only letter with more than one syllable when spoken. I would rather that the VV or UU forms would come back.

Apparently, E, I, O, S and T, since they can be r3p1c3d by numb3r5.

*shudders*

This thread seems ideal for this article:

no idea where's it from. Been doing the rounds on the 'net for years.
I think it's derived from NuSpel (http://www.nuspel.org/hogstime.html).

Edit: Or possibly just a joke about the Germans running the EU. But I'm sure I've read it in another context.

Come to think of it - why doesn't English have accents? All other European languages do.

Because we know better than to ruin perfectly good letters by putting lines through them or other strange over or under them.

Apparently, E, I, O, S and T, since they can be r3p1c3d by numb3r5.

*shudders*

Or, taking that further...

A = 4 or @
B = |3
C = (
D = |)
E = 3
F = |=
G = {_+, maybe
H = |-|
I = |
J = _|
K = |<
L = 1
M = |\/|'s the best I can do
N = |\|
O = 0
P = |>
Q = 0,
R = |2
S = 5
T = 7
U = |_|
V = \/
W = \/\/
X = ><
Y = '/
Z = 2

There. Now all letters are useless.

I would have to say Q. It's only around because the language the alphabet was originally invented for (Phonecian, I think), had a sound similar to K not found in English or related languages, that later users kept for some reason. Interestingly, I've read that Old English used to write "qu" as "cw" before the influence of French and Latin later on.

...(Phonecian, I think), ...

Is that the languange of text messaging?

Is that the languange of text messaging?

*thwap* You fail at history.

your looking for insult where there was none. i think that statement quite clearly transmits my attitude to christianity and religion in general, which is 'i don't care what you believe, just don't let your beliefs interfere with me'. if you find insult in such a position that's your business.

No, I actually wasn't looking around for any insult. You're the one making assumptions. And I wasn't insulted either. Just making an observation which you again make yourself. Again, just thought it was strange to make a statement about Christianity from a thread about letters in the alphabet. Unless you're saying it was a culture that was Christian that changed the alphabet to add the letter 'J', but I didn't get the impression that is what you meant. But if so, I understand that better.

Not really sure why Christians would feel stronly about the letter J anyways. I mean sure, we say Jesus, but we can be fairly certain that he was never called "Jesus" the way we pronounce it in english. I always found it a bit odd also that Jehovah's Witnesses insist that "Jehova" is the true name of God when we can be certain that it's not because of the letter "J" argument again. Any JW's that could give some insight to that - I would be interested.

*thwap* You fail at history.

Thought they might be different from the Phoenicians, though then I notice I spelt language wrongly...doh

*thwap* You fail at history.<giggle> Rambhutan is just making fun of Letila's misspelling.

I think it's derived from NuSpel (http://www.nuspel.org/hogstime.html).
I think I've spent way too much time messing with phonetics - I could read the IPA phrases in the pictures as easily as the normal English....

Thought they might be different from the Phoenicians, though then I notice I spelt language wrongly...doh

LOL! I've gotten used to a lot of misspellings here. Sorry. :)

Not really sure why Christians would feel stronly about the letter J anyways. I mean sure, we say Jesus, but we can be fairly certain that he was never called "Jesus" the way we pronounce it in english. I always found it a bit odd also that Jehovah's Witnesses insist that "Jehova" is the true name of God when we can be certain that it's not because of the letter "J" argument again. Any JW's that could give some insight to that - I would be interested.

Ask a lot of these people what language Jesus spoke. People who know their history are aware that he spoke Aramaic, a language with no written form. A number of people would probably guess; some would probably think he spoke Latin or something, which is an admirable but incorrect guess. Maybe he also spoke Latin, but do we have a reason to believe that?

The biggest thing to pay attention to is how many think he spoke English. Preferably King James English. It's an argument that you can poke holes in, sure, but convincing such a person that Jesus never spoke English is a little like, say, convincing the European Union that there should be a mandatory death penalty for playing soccer. It just won't happen.

Way to speak ignorantly.

i have a reason for doing so. besides people from different areas pronounce letters differently. so i have my own unique way of talking. i'll say what i like.

despite what someone said earlier, there are different accents between english speaking countries, even differences within those countries.
examples:
alot of english say 'f' instead of 'th', or say thier 'g' wierdly when they say words like 'ring' or 'sing'. which to me sounds like 'ring-g' or 'sing-g'.

dublin(mostly northside) people say 'd' instead of 'th'. southside say 'or' instead of 'ar'.
in newyork they find it hard to understand when we say 'tuna'.

i have a reason for doing so. besides people from different areas pronounce letters differently. so i have my own unique way of talking. i'll say what i like.

despite what someone said earlier, there are different accents between english speaking countries, even differences within those countries.
examples:
alot of english say 'f' instead of 'th', or say thier 'g' wierdly when they say words like 'ring' or 'sing'. which to me sounds like 'ring-g' or 'sing-g'.

dublin(mostly northside) people say 'd' instead of 'th'. southside say 'or' instead of 'ar'.
in newyork they find it hard to understand when we say 'tuna'.

Care to explain your inability to capitalise? :rolleyes:

Care to explain your inability to capitalise? :rolleyes:
He has has own unique way of writing too. One that may cause problems trying to find employment.

No, I actually wasn't looking around for any insult. You're the one making assumptions. And I wasn't insulted either. Just making an observation which you again make yourself. Again, just thought it was strange to make a statement about Christianity from a thread about letters in the alphabet. Unless you're saying it was a culture that was Christian that changed the alphabet to add the letter 'J', but I didn't get the impression that is what you meant. But if so, I understand that better.

Not really sure why Christians would feel stronly about the letter J anyways. I mean sure, we say Jesus, but we can be fairly certain that he was never called "Jesus" the way we pronounce it in english. I always found it a bit odd also that Jehovah's Witnesses insist that "Jehova" is the true name of God when we can be certain that it's not because of the letter "J" argument again. Any JW's that could give some insight to that - I would be interested.

well, in that case you read way to much into what was a perfectly innocent comment. a comment which was made before i was fully aware of any alternative spelling of jesus. i think i explained my reasons for posting the comment quite adequately and acceptably in my orgininal reply to you.

the only useful use of the letter j i could think of at the time was in jesus and naturally we can leave jesus to the christians (and any muslims who concern themselves particularly with that prophet) seeing as they're the only one's he is relevant to.

please loosen up.

He has has own unique way of writing too. One that may cause problems trying to find employment.

One that may lead him to being a ward of the state for life.

Care to explain your inability to capitalise? :rolleyes:

you mean lower to upper case?
unimportant. you dont have to be a grammer nazi. for anything serious i have to type, i spell/grammer check. the n/s forum doesnt rank highly enough for me to put effort in my spelling and grammer.

He has has own unique way of writing too. One that may cause problems trying to find employment.

making fun of dyslexics?
thats very low.
anyway i probably have better people skills than you, i guess this cause you seem like a prick, due to your cheap shots. so i'm more likely to get a job over you if we had the same qualifications competing for an interview. as most big employers would agree.
also i have a very big vocabularly when i have a spell checker.

you mean lower to upper case?
unimportant. you dont have to be a grammer nazi. for anything serious i have to type, i spell/grammer check. the n/s forum does rank highly enough for me to put effort in my spelling and grammer.


Capitalisation, punctuation and spelling are your friends.

you mean lower to upper case?
unimportant. you dont have to be a grammer nazi. for anything serious i have to type, i spell/grammer check. the n/s forum does rank highly enough for me to put effort in my spelling and grammer.
...or even remember the difference between 'does' and 'doesn't'. If you're relying on spelling and grammar checkers to find your errors, you'll have problems with homophones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophone) and the like.

well, in that case you read way to much into what was a perfectly innocent comment. a comment which was made before i was fully aware of any alternative spelling of jesus. i think i explained my reasons for posting the comment quite adequately and acceptably in my orgininal reply to you.



please loosen up.

Ok :) Let's go get a drink or two... and talk about harmless things... definitely not about the alphabet. I was thinking about possibly developments in the middle east.

you mean lower to upper case?
unimportant. you dont have to be a grammer nazi. for anything serious i have to type, i spell/grammer check. the n/s forum does rank highly enough for me to put effort in my spelling and grammer.

grammar

making fun of dyslexics?
thats very low.
anyway i probably have better people skills than you, i guess this cause you seem like a prick, due to your cheap shots. so i'm more likely to get a job over you if we had the same qualifications competing for an interview. as most big employers would agree.
also i have a very big vocabularly when i have a spell checker.


Just stop already, please.

Capitalisation, punctuation and spelling are your friends.

i'm very popular bloke so i'm fine.

i'm very popular bloke so i'm fine.

Wow, you're popular. You're my new hero. *swoon* :rolleyes:

I think I've spent way too much time messing with phonetics - I could read the IPA phrases in the pictures as easily as the normal English....

I could do that and I've never done any phonetics.

Ok :) Let's go get a drink or two... and talk about harmless things... definitely not about the alphabet. I was thinking about possibly developments in the middle east.

sounds like a plan! i'll bring the nukes, you bring the beer ;)

making fun of dyslexics?
thats very low.
Pretending to have dyslexia when you've clearly stated above that you just can't be bothered is even lower.

anyway i probably have better people skills than you, i guess this cause you seem like a prick, due to your cheap shots. so i'm more likely to get a job over you if we had the same qualifications competing for an interview. as most big employers would agree.
What world are you living in?

I could do that and I've never done any phonetics.
Ah, that's okay then. And I still can't understand jokes in Latin, so that probably means I'm not too far gone to be saved...

...or even remember the difference between 'does' and 'doesn't'. If you're relying on spelling and grammar checkers to find your errors, you'll have problems with homophones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophone) and the like.
I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four mi pea sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see.
Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.

Q obviously. It's too shy to appear on its own most of the time and needs support from U.

With this kind of statement, you'll make it even more self-conscious.

I dunno about the actual question, maybe W? That vould be more easy to learn for German speaking people (pronounciation-vise), and for some others probably as vell (no similar sound in French, Italian, or Spanish, as far as I'm avare, except probably for putting an U in front of a vouel).

where one is dyslexic or not, spell check is going fix it anyway most times.
i'm bothering to type posts in word then pasting to the forum.

What world are you living in?

every interview i've ever been to, i've got the job. so stick it.

I voted C. It's halfway useless. I have a C in my name, but it wouldn't look too bad with a K, and I almost never write out my full name so I almost never need it.

Except there is a C in all of the four cities I've lived in. And a C in the name of my current province. And in my country... Um.

So my verdict is that it's the most useless, but not useless enough to get rid of.

Not J, though. I don't want to be Gessie. It loses something. I would probably cheer quite happily for the Blue Gays, though.

i say 'j'. i can't think of any good words with 'j' in that don't have better alternatives. leave it for the christians, the rest of us can do without.

PB'n'J :D it's important.

Also, 'ch' is phonetically the same as 'tsh'.

Unless "ch" is phonetically used to represent /ð/ (in Northern Scottish dialects and Welsh) or "cht". There is no Latin letter combination to represent the glottal rolling present when a Scots speaker pronounces "loch." In fact, the IPA symbol is derived from an old Celtic letterform which was used to represent it.

making fun of dyslexics?
thats very low.
anyway i probably have better people skills than you, i guess this cause you seem like a prick, due to your cheap shots. so i'm more likely to get a job over you if we had the same qualifications competing for an interview. as most big employers would agree.
also i have a very big vocabularly when i have a spell checker.

So you have a very big vocabulary when someone else is giving you the words? Well good for you sport. If you're not going to bother making your posts legible why should any of us bother to decipher them? That's the basis of written language, you don't make shit up as you go. If people don't follow a standard then it's not a language, it's just jibberish.

I have a spelling checker
I disk covered four mi pea sea.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot see.
Eye ran this poem threw it.
Your sure real glad two no.
Its very polished in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
Brilliant :D

So you have a very big vocabulary when someone else is giving you the words? Well good for you sport. If you're not going to bother making your posts legible why should any of us bother to decipher them? That's the basis of written language, you don't make shit up as you go. If people don't follow a standard then it's not a language, it's just jibberish.

most the time people understand what i'm saying. dont be a snob.

Easily X. You can just get along with ks like the russians.:p

most the time people understand what i'm saying. dont be a snob.

Don't expect people to take you remotely seriously if you're not going to quit being lazy long enough to hit a shift key. Punctuation would also be lovely.

am i on trial or something?
why would you care about punctuation?
this thread is about getting rid of letters, so some people must be in favour of change. besides yanks spell incorrectly frequently, and even american computers have thier wrong way of spelling programmed into thier spell checks.

In my experience, most real dyslexics take a lot more care with their spelling. They're often very self-conscious about their spelling, so they take the time to double-check, put things through a spell checker, etc.

Also, real dyslexics who don't take the extra care don't type like you do.

You type like a lazy person, not a dyslexic.

In my experience, most real dyslexics take a lot more care with their spelling. They're often very self-conscious about their spelling, so they take the time to double-check, put things through a spell checker, etc.

Also, real dyslexics who don't take the extra care don't type like you do.

You type like a lazy person, not a dyslexic.

thank you doctor.
you people should moanning about pointless things and start caring more about things which actually effect the world. bad spelling on forums, luckily enough, does not effect the world in a large scale.

Griping about the presence of letters, what's next? Criticizing the President? Geez...





[/sarcasm] _

So you have a very big vocabulary when someone else is giving you the words? Well good for you sport. If you're not going to bother making your posts legible why should any of us bother to decipher them? That's the basis of written language, you don't make shit up as you go. If people don't follow a standard then it's not a language, it's just jibberish.

Hahah I love it, sooo here we have the classic speil about rules of 'the written language' which includes slang, bad grammar and plain old rubbish.

Language is in fact an ever evolving thing, and it's usage changes on a daily basis. The man told you he is dyslexic which means his spelling is not going to be good. Deal with, you wouldn't after all take the piss out of a physical handicaped person, or somebody with downs syndrome now would you.

Suffering from dyslexicia is not funny, it is a problem with data processing in the brain, it does not mean we are thick. It does mean we have to find ways and methoeds to help us learn that you do not, it does mean that we have to do this ourselves as every dyslexic is differant and so one approach will not fit all, it does mean that we suffer from this condition all of our lives, there is no cure, it also means that we will not put up with abusive crap from ignarant pricks.

zzzzzzzzzz

*sleeps*

I'm surprised that only one person said 'Z'. It could easily be replaced by 'X' or 'S' (like in 'was')

Q obviously. It's too shy to appear on its own most of the time and needs support from U.
I concur, it also reeks of French!
-------------
Jello made a bad poll.:(

I say 'F'. What can it do that 'ph' can't do?

oh phor phucks sake ...

"Phluphle" works pretty well, though.

I'll go with Q. Most uses of "Qu" can be substituted with "Kw" without much difficulty, at least in English. Kwick, go ask the Kween for airfare to Kwebek (or Kebek if you prefer...see, changed a "C" there too.)

With C, you can generally phase it out with K and S, but what about words like "change" and "chip"? I could eat potato jips and jange my klothes, but then I'd sound like I had a kold.

We'd all sound like we lived in South Africa and spoke Afrikaans...

Really sorry for the double post(?), but I just remembered something else that's sort of relevent...
Wasn't there something on a comedy show like Monty Python once, where they started removing all the letters to make the language simpler, and they ended up speaking harsh German? I don't remember where it's from. It was quite clever though.

Really sorry for the double post(?), but I just remembered something else that's sort of relevent...
Wasn't there something on a comedy show like Monty Python once, where they started removing all the letters to make the language simpler, and they ended up speaking harsh German? I don't remember where it's from. It was quite clever though.Perhaps post 26?

Apparently so!
Hehe, sorry all...

z. Outside the US when is it used? Only for Zebra and maybe a few others. Certainly not for words like realise, which is not spelled realize.

H. Nobody ever pronounces that letter anyway. We don't need it.

H. Nobody ever pronounces that letter anyway. We don't need it.

Anyone who doesn't pronounce this letter isn't speaking properly.

H. Nobody ever pronounces that letter anyway. We don't need it.

Would about in Hot? or how?

Blue GaysMaybe they'd stop feeling blue if they had equal rights? :p

We need all of our letters. None are useless. The letter X can be annoying when trying to spell but it is still needed.

Hmmm...let's see here. And keep in mind, I am only speaking on behalf of the English language, though I suppose I could speak for Spanish as well, as I speak both languages.

We'll assume that none of the vowels are going anywhere. Nor are the Wheel of Fortune consonants - R, S, T, L, and N. So that leaves 16 letters that are candidates for axing.

The ones we can't really axe are B (no more Beer, Bob, and Buffalo,) D (Dogs, Donkeys, and Drunks,) G (after all, Gary might go gaga and eat grapes,) H (how hot is Honduras?,) J (John, Jerry, and Jim jumped jacks, though maybe they should have done it in Jym class,) K (Kevin killed the King,) L (Lady Luck loves Las Vegas,) M (Many moons make for...umm, monkeys? I don't know,) N (nosy neighbors need no niceties,) P (people in Prussia paint in purple,) R (Rodney rakes red rugs,) S (snakes slither in Sudan,) T (tons of tambourines tinker with tools,) V (Victor vacuumed very vigorously,) and W (winter weather wets my whistle.)

I left out C, F, Q, X, Y, and Z. Those could all, in theory, be replaced.

No more C? Sertainly some people find this hard to aksept. However, they kan be taught, unlike the jimpanzee.

Out with the F? Ophicially, such a move would have to be phorced, but the more phree thinkers would understand that such a move could take place very ephiciently.

Quit Q? While kwick acceptance of such a move would be difficult, people would ackwiesce to it kwietly, and such issues as Irak and al-Kaida may seem less threatening. Plus, Kwentin and the Kween can have lunck in Kwebec after being moved ahead in the alphabet.

To heck with X? Eczactly the move ecksperts would predict from an eckspanding language. Maybe a zylophone would be easier to play or an acks easier to swing. And who knows, our secks lives may be eckstended.

Why not axe Y? Jung people certainlee would find is a misteree where that letter went, but it mee make criptic phrasing easier to manage.

Or just drop Z. The state of Arisona may react with an authorisation to snoose, but...you know what, Z stays. Zombies might quiz us on our pizza-making abilities.

Occur twice in a row. Phluphphle doesn't work as a word.

I think it only doppelgangers like that to protect the vowel before it from becoming long. ph can easily protect a vowel.

U could be replaced easily enough I think.

Just omit U any time it is after Q, so Queen becomes Qeen and conquest becomes conqest.

For long U use yoo, so human becomes hyooman and useful becomes yooseful

For short U use oe, so upper becomes oepper and bump becomes boemp

I think it only doppelgangers like that to protect the vowel before it from becoming long. ph can easily protect a vowel.

U could be replaced easily enough I think.

Just omit U any time it is after Q, so Queen becomes Qeen and conquest becomes conqest.

For long U use yoo, so human becomes hyooman and useful becomes yooseful

For short U use oe, so upper becomes oepper and bump becomes boemp

It's obvious that most people in this thread have no idea what they're talking about. "Qeen" is not phonetically equivilent to "queen" unless you're mangling the pronounciation beyond what their English phonology allows. Do you think "keen" sounds identical to "queen"? You've simplified vowels more than they should be, too. The "yoo" sound is a diphong, not to mention your short u is tainted by your accent. I do not pronounce "boemp" as "bump".

It's obvious that most people in this thread have no idea what they're talking about. "Qeen" is not phonetically equivilent to "queen" unless you're mangling the pronounciation beyond what their English phonology allows. Do you think "keen" sounds identical to "queen"? You've simplified vowels more than they should be, too. The "yoo" sound is a diphong, not to mention your short u is tainted by your accent. I do not pronounce "boemp" as "bump".

Your view is biased by your dependence upon the vowel U. These are merely props and crutches you have become accustomed to, not things as they could and should be, if we but get rid of that surplus letter U.

x. no contest.

Z. Because I spell in the Cambridge English fashion, i.e. 'analyse' rather than 'analyze'.

No bloody need for it.

Z. Because I spell in the Cambridge English fashion, i.e. 'analyse' rather than 'analyze'.

No bloody need for it.

The geeser walking with the aid of a simmer went to the soological gardens to see the sebras?

Jello made a bad poll.:(What's wrong with the poll? That it isn't multiple choice?

Also, 'ch' is phonetically the same as 'tsh'.
Sorry, but The Tshad just isn't going to cut it.:)

Personally, I just don’t think any of the letters are useful at all.

Z. Because I spell in the Cambridge English fashion, i.e. 'analyse' rather than 'analyze'.

No bloody need for it.

Zoo.. Zoology... Zebula? Hello, there is a need for Z

Zoo.. Zoology... Zebula? Hello, there is a need for Z
I think you're biased, Silam.

Z. Because I spell in the Cambridge English fashion, i.e. 'analyse' rather than 'analyze'.

No bloody need for it.
Zeus would want to have words with you about that.
Keep going on about dropping 'Z', and expect a bolt of lightening from the clear blue skies zigzaging your way soon.

Also, it's worth too much in scrabble to do away with. "ADZE' is worth 14 points, but "ADSE" only 5. That's not fair. Not fair at all!

I went for the newest addition to the english language: J

Kind of a last hired, first fired policy I suppose.

Any letter with the subject line, "INCREASE THE SIZE OF YOUR MEMBER AND PLEASE YOUR LADY!!!!111"

Any letter with the subject line, "INCREASE THE SIZE OF YOUR MEMBER AND PLEASE YOUR LADY!!!!111"

Send this to 100 of your friends, and we will give you one KAJILLION dollars!

What's wrong with the poll? That it isn't multiple choice?
I like Public Polls.
Obviously sometimes a very personel question is asked, and people might want to be discrete, but otherwise Public Polls are the best IMO.

I like Public Polls.
Obviously sometimes a very personel question is asked, and people might want to be discrete, but otherwise Public Polls are the best IMO.Hm. I'll keep that in mind for the next one.

Or, taking that further...

A = 4 or @
B = |3
C = (
D = |)
E = 3
F = |=
G = {_+, maybe
H = |-|
I = |
J = _|
K = |<
L = 1
M = |\/|'s the best I can do
N = |\|
O = 0
P = |>
Q = 0,
R = |2
S = 5
T = 7
U = |_|
V = \/
W = \/\/
X = ><
Y = '/
Z = 2

There. Now all letters are useless.

\/\/|-|47 4 104|) 0|= |30110(|<5

Nah, doesn't work for me.