Letters

In general, this page covers questions where the answer is a letter of the alphabet (or any alphabet).

NATO phonetic alphabet

This alphabet is more correctly known as the NATO spelling alphabet – it isn't phonetic in any meaningful sense.

It's also known as the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet.

A		Alpha	B		Bravo	C		Charlie	D		Delta
E		Echo	F		Foxtrot	G		Golf	H		Hotel
I		India	J		Juliet	K		Kilo	L		Lima
M		Mike	N		November	O		Oscar	P		Papa
Q		Quebec	R		Romeo	S		Sierra	T		Tango
U		Uniform	V		Victor	W		Whisky	X		X–ray
Y		Yankee	Z		Zulu

Morse Code

A

•‒

B

‒•••

C

‒•‒•

D

‒••

E

•

F

••‒•

G

‒‒•

H

••••

I

••

J

•‒‒‒

K

‒•‒

L

•‒••

M

‒‒

N

‒•

O

‒‒‒

P

•‒‒•

Q

‒‒•‒

R

•‒•

S

•••

T

‒

U

••‒

V

•••‒

W

•‒‒

X

‒••‒

Y

‒•‒‒

Z

‒‒••

0

‒‒‒‒‒

1

•‒‒‒‒

2

••‒‒‒

3

•••‒‒

4

••••‒

5

•••••

6

‒••••

7

‒‒•••

8

‒‒‒••

9

‒‒‒‒•

Things worth remembering

I don't think I've ever been asked anything about Morse Code, that isn't in this subsection.

Dot dash (•‒) is A; dash dot (‒•) is N. (N is the 14th letter of the alphabet – in other words, the first letter in the second half.)

One dot (•)		E		One dash (‒)		T
Two dots (••)		I		Two dashes (‒ ‒)		M
Three dots (•••)		S		Three dashes (‒ ‒ ‒)		O
Four dots (••••)		H		Four dashes (‒ ‒ ‒ ‒)		Š
Five dots (•••••)		5		Five dashes (‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒)		0

Note: three dashes is the letter O; five dashes is zero. English speakers don't really need to worry about the code of four dashes, as there is very little call in our language for Š (S with a caron).

The only vowel that I haven't mentioned so far in this subsection is U, which is dot dot dash (••‒). That's unless you count Y, which is dash dot dash dash (‒•‒‒).

Eight dots signifies an error.

Numbers

In Morse, each digit has five symbols. For x between 0 and 5 (inclusive), the code is x dots followed by (5 – x) dashes. For y between 6 and 9 (inclusive), the code is (y – 5) dashes followed by (10 – y dots).

It's not as complicated as this makes it sound – honest! For example, 3 is •••‒‒ and 8 is ‒‒‒••.

2018 'Best of British' Alphabet Coins

In 2018, the Royal Mint issued a set of 26 'collectable' 10p pieces whose reverse sides depicted things that were seen as typically British – one for every letter of the alphabet. The Mint hoped that people would search for them in their change and collect them; alternatively they were available for purchase from post offices, for £2 each or £52 for the set of 26 (no bulk discount!).

In 2020, the coins could be bought on eBay for anything from 99p to £2.50 each, or around £60 for the full set.

These coins were, understandably and quite reasonably, popular for a while with quiz setters. Only time will tell whether (or for how long) their popularity will endure; but I find them quite interesting, so they will stay on my website for the foreseeable future.

A		Angel of the North	B		Bond ... James Bond	C		Cricket
D		Double decker bus	E		English breakfast	F		Fish & Chips
G		Greenwich Mean Time	H		Houses of Parliament	I		Ice–cream cone
J		Jubilee	K		King Arthur / Round Table	L		The Loch Ness Monster
M		Mackintosh	N		The National Health Service	O		Oak tree
P		Post box	Q		Queueing	R		Robin
S		Stonehenge	T		Teapot	U		The Union flag
V		A Village	W		The World Wide Web	X		X marks the spot
Y		A Yeoman of the Guard	Z		Zebra crossing

P.S. I don't remember ever finding any of them in my change!

Miscellaneous

One dot in Braille; ". –" (dot dash) in Morse		A
Most common letter in written English; one dot in Morse Code		E
Distress signal adopted by Marconi 1904, and sent from the Titanic along with "SOS" which was then sent for the first time (CQ was a signal originally used on land, meaning "all stations"; D stood for Distress)		CQD

In many of the following answers – particularly the scientific ones – the case (upper or lower) of the letter in question is significant. In most cases however it would be a harsh question asker who insisted on the correct case being given.

The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne): the letter in question was		A
The only vowel that's not on the top row, on a standard keyboard
Commonly used to denote the speed of light		c
The base of natural logarithms (approx. 2.718)		e
Used as a prefix to indicate an aircraft registered in the UK		G
Planck's constant (used to describe the size of quanta of energy)		h
The adjective 'zygal' means shaped like a yoke, or like the letter		H
Used by mathematicians to denote the square root of minus one (an imaginary number, a.k.a. 'the imaginary unit')		i
Identifies British sailing boats		K
James Bond's boss – the fictional head of MI6		M
Used as a prefix to indicate an aircraft registered in the USA		N
The most common blood group in English speaking countries (A is marginally less common, and more common in some other European countries) – can donate to any other group		O
Head of the fictional Research and Development branch of the British Secret Service (in the Bond films; mentioned only fleetingly in the books) – supposedly standing for Quartermaster		Q
Pen name of Sir Arthur Quiller–Couch
Used in UK vehicle registration numbers, between 1983 and 2001, when the age of the vehicle was unknown
Traditional advice is not to eat oysters except when the name of the month contains an		R
In architecture, an ogee is a curve shaped like the letter		S
Luncheon is; lunch isn't (according to a convention popularised by Nancy Mitford)		U
Said to be repeated in Morse Code by the opening notes of Beethoven's 5th symphony		V
1980s TV series about an alien invasion of Los Angeles
Represents osculation		X
Described by the Earl of Kent in King Lear as: "thou whoreson … thou unnecessary letter";		Z
French political thriller film, 1969, directed by Costa-Gavros and starring Jean Trintingnant, Yves Montand and Irene Papas
The only letter that begins the names of exactly two United Nations member states (two – Oman and Qatar – have unique initial letters)

Letters that are vowels in Welsh but not in English (or in most other languages)		W
		Y

Popular British comedian, and part-time marathon runner, whose surname is an archaic word for the letter Z

Eddie Izzard

First letter of the Hebrew alphabet		Aleph (alef)
Last letter of the Hebrew alphabet		Tav

The Greek Alphabet

1. (A)	Α α		Alpha	2. (B)	Β β		Beta	3. (C)	Γ γ		Gamma
4. (D)	Δ δ		Delta	5. (E)	Ε ε		Epsilon	6.	Ζ ζ		Zeta
7. (H)	Η η		Eta	8.	Θ θ		Theta	9. (I)	Ι ι		Iota
10. (K)	Κ κ		Kappa	11. (L)	Λ λ		Lambda	12. (M)	Μ μ		Mu
13. (N)	Ν ν		Nu	14.	Ξ ξ		Xi	15. (O)	Ο ο		Omicron
16. (P)	Π π		Pi	17. (R)	Ρ ρ		Rho	18. (S)	Σ σ ς		Sigma
19. (T)	Τ τ		Tau	20. (Y)	Υ υ		Upsilon	21.	Φ φ		Phi
22.	Χ χ		Chi	23.	Ψ ψ		Psi	24.	Ω ω		Omega

Xi is pronounced "Chi", where the "ch" is as in "loch" and the "i" rhymes with "tie". "Ki" or "Ksi" (rhyming with "tie" in either case) is usually close enough.

© Haydn Thompson 2017–20