Monday, February 20, 2012

Forget Your ABCs, Know Your ETAs

erhaps you’ve never given much thought to why A leads off the alphabet and Z brings up the rear. We have, and apparently we are not alone. Instead of learning your ABCs, maybe you should be learning your ETAs.

It turns out if you look at how often any given letter appears in the English language, E rises to the top of the heap. T comes in at number two and A slides in at a respectable number three. Sadly, Z still comes in last place. Apparently, the folks who established traditional alphabetical order got a few things right.

Thankfully someone else did the math to come up with the proportionally-weighted alphabet, and the methodology can be found here. (A competing alphabetical line up can be found here using a different methodology.)

For those of you who prefer a more logical approach to the alphabet, GDL Studio is here to help. We have crafted not one but TWO prints that pay homage to our ETAs. One version features a more relaxed style using lower-case letters and a formal version with capital letters. (We also acknowledge the establishment’s preferred alphabetical order here and here.)   

Who do we talk to about getting schools to start teaching about ETAs? 

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