Thursday, June 6, 2013

Do You Have Favorite Letters (of the alphabet)?

I blogged recently, here, about favorite words. That led me to some thoughts about the elements that make up words: letters. Do you have favorite letters? I do. They are: G, J, K, L, Q, W, X, and Z.

Why? Well, I guess I just like how they look and sound. They're, I dunno, cool.

And as I thought about it, I realized that for me certain letters have certain characteristics. C is feminine and pretty. H throws his weight around. M and N are boring. P is a tad highbrow, mostly self-proclaimed. And A is always red. Later, I learned that viewing letters as having personality is one possible aspect of synesthesia. Seeing them in color, each letter always having its particular color, definitely is. Some, not all, of the letters have color for me, but I find it highly interesting that, while all the other letters vary in color from one person to another, most all synesthetes who see letters in color see A as red.

How about you? Do you have favorite letters? Why are they favorites?

20 comments:

Mirka Breen said...

I like the letter E. Specifically the capital letter, because before I could read English I would see this E shape and imagine a bird's -eye view of a being with its arms stretched out to take me in.

Not what you were posting about, I know. But I still had to mention it.

I have a writer friend who is proud of having written a whole story without using the letter E. His editor was less impressed. "What's the point?" she said.

Rena Jones said...

I've always liked the letter A, but I'm not sure why. All my children have names that begin with N, too.

I have a cute craft book by Kathy Ross that features projects for each letter of the alphabet. It's geared towards younger students, but my boys still like doing things like that.

Vijaya said...

I am very fond of letters with symmetry (horizontal, vertical or rotational) but then I also enjoy letters that exhibit none. LOL. I guess I like all their shapes.

Favorites: K, Z, R, V, M, N, Q, J

Leandra Wallace said...

Hmm, I've never thought about having a favorite letter. I guess I don't have one. *feels mildly disturbed about this, being of the writer sort and all...* But as for giving attributes to letters, I actually did that with numbers when I was in 1st grade- and it's stuck w/me ever since. Which is weird, b/c I hate math!

Kelly Polark said...

I always loved to write the capital cursive letter L! But not sure if I have a favorite, though my son's names both start with J.

Marcia said...

Mirka -- I guess E is the most commonly used letter, right? I could enjoy the puzzle aspect of trying to write a story without E. Maybe if you don't see it from that viewpoint...

Rena -- I'd love to see the projects for the "hard" letters. Sometimes, depending on the topic, it's not always the usual Q, X, and such letters that are the hard ones.

Vijaya -- Don likes M best. And this is pretty off the wall, but I've always felt names should have an L in them somewhere. That is, in your first, middle, and last name, at least one L should appear. Flat-out weird, I know.

Leandra -- So you dealt with hating math by turning numbers into characters? I love it! :)

Kelly -- That IS a pretty letter. So flow-y. I think J is one of the very best letters to use if you're going to give names to your kids that all start with the same letter. There are so many J names.

Ruth Schiffmann said...

Having a favorite letter is a completely new idea to me. I have favorite words and favorite numbers, but no, I do not have a favorite letter.

Emily R. King said...

It's interesting that you feel certain ways about certain letters. I'm sure I do as well, I've just never thought about it. If I did, I may oppose some of your opinions. Funny how that changes per a person's experiences.

Bish Denham said...

I've always liked the letter B, probably because it was one of the first letters I learned to write as it was the first letter of my name. I like the way it's bubbly and fluid. It seems to have a lot of movement.

Kelly Hashway said...

I have to say A because it's the first letter in my daughter's name. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

I guess Nathaniel Hawthorne would be impressed so many people see the A as red :P

I used to do calligraphy and I got some of my fave letters from that -- A S F B L. I've also always been partial to Q & J :)

Marcia said...

Ruth -- Maybe you'll find one or two. ;)

Bish -- I think I agree: B IS cool.

Kelly -- A, being first, is hard to beat.

Jemi -- That is a riot! I NEVER thought of "The scarlet letter" connection! I've often wanted to learn calligraphy.

Anonymous said...

I like S, T, R, and E, and I use them first in word games.

Marcia said...

Medeia -- Ah, All those Wheel of Fortune favorites! :)

Stina said...

I'm not sure. Maybe S. It's a cool shape. LD

Marcia said...

Stina -- I love all the CRITERIA for people's favorite letters. Yes, shape is a biggie. :)

cleemckenzie said...

Maybe S. I love the sibilant sound of it.

Marcia said...

Lee -- I can identify with that; I've always liked L because it has a liquid sound. :)

Kim Van Sickler said...

I've never thought about favorite letters, but I do love the way the letters sound in certain words. Some of my faves: glower, snicker, funky, persnickety,spawn,filibuster.

Marcia said...

Kim -- Oh, I love those sounds in snicker and persnickety, too.