What is a word or phrase that starts with the name of each letter of the alphabet?
language/english/pronunciation/breakfast Added material
Problem
What is a word or phrase that starts with the name of each letter of the alphabet?
Show solution
This was a creation of Harry Mathews that appeared in "Word Ways" before 1990
and is covered at length in chapters 6+ of Eric Partridge's "Comic Alphabets,"
with discussion of historical, class, and geographical differences. See also
William Espy's "An Almanac of Words at Play," July 6. The best examples use common
phrases, avoid proper names, and common words (as opposed to uncommon words or parts
of words). Here are some variations (often requiring an English accent):
A for 'orses
A for ism (afforism)
A for Gardner (Eva Gardner)
B for mutton
C for yourself
C for th'highlanders (Seaforth Highlanders)
D for rent (different)
E for brick (heave a brick)
E for Peron (Eva Peron)
F for vest (effervesced)
F for been had
G for sis
G for staff
G for police
H for retirement
I for lutin' (highfalutin)
I for Novello
I for hangover
I for get
J for oranges (Jaffa oranges)
K for teria (cafeteria)
K for ancis (Kay Francis)
K for restaurant
K for a drink
L for leather
L for fairy
M for size
M for services
N for a penny
N for lope (envelope)
N for mation please
O for the rainbow [there]
O for goodness' sake
P for brook (Beaverbrook)
P for i, timpani, cembali!
P for a whistle
Q for billiards
Q for the bus
Q for a song
R for mo ('arf a mo)
R for Godfrey (Arthur Godfrey) [Askey]
S for me, give me liberty or give me death [instance]
S for Williams (Esther Willias) [Rantzen]
T for two
T for mation (in US football)
U for mystic (euphemistic) [cough, nerve, knee]
U for age (youth or age)
U for instance
V for Zapata (Viva Zapata!) [l'amour, France, la difference]
V for voce (Via Voce)
W for a nickel (trouble you for a nickel?) [a bob, a quid, quits]
X for breakfast
Y for mistress [or husband]
Y for crying out loud
Z for breezes (works with both 'zee' and 'zed') [effect, de dogtor - I hab a bad code iddy doze]
Additional material
A rather old piece of wit was a comic alphabet, which relied on some
atrocious puns. It started off - A for 'orses, B for mutton, and so on
through the alphabet. There are probably quite a few versions. A pair
of comics in the 1930's recorded a routine - "The Surrealist Alphabet"
but a few of the references are incomprehensible to modern ears. For
instance they had C for Thighlanders (were Seaforth Highlanders a
Scottish Regiment?) and K for ancis (Kay Francis, an actor) and H for
respect (????). Here is a list, somewhat flawed, mainly based on the
recording, but with a few others I have learned from others or thought
of myself.
[ Editor: items of this list already given above are omitted. ]
D for ential (differential)
E for Adam (Eve or Adam)
F for vescent (effervescent)
H for respect (????)
K for warrior (Kaffir warrior)
M for sis (emphasis)
N for a dig (infra dig)
N for a red (infra red)
O for the garden wall (over the garden wall)
P for a penny (pee for a penny - at public toilets?)
Q for tickets (queue for tickets)
S for you! (as for you!)
U for mism (euphemism)
U for gotten already? ([have] you forgotten already?)
Y for God's sake (why, for God's sake?)
Can you improve on these? Two versions for Z are needed, depending on
whether you pronounce it zed or zee.
-- Barry Harridge <barry@torps.apana.org.au>
How 'bout:
H before beauty
-- Jeff Shearer <jshearer@beta.tricity.wsu.edu>
My guess is that "H for respect" is "age for respect".
Here's a few:
I for tower (Eiffel tower)
L for dwarf (elf or dwarf)
M for Zima (emphasima)
R for bowwow (arf or bowwow)
Y for significant other (wife or significant other)
-- Dan Cass <dmc@sjfc.edu>
That's close to the way I heard it (about 35 years ago, I think), with a
few differences:
> C for th Highlanders (the Seaforth Highlanders?)
(Yes, a Scottish regiment.)
> H for respect (????)
H before Beauty (age before beauty)
> K for ancis (Kaye Francis? - an actor)
(Actress)
> N for a dig (infra dig)
> N for a red (infra red)
N for mation (information)
> O for the garden wall (over the garden wall)
O for the garden gate
> R for mo ( 'arf a mo. Slang for a short time)
R for pint ( 'arf a pint)
> S for you! (as for you!)
S or no (yes or no)
> U for mism (euphemism)
> U for gotten already? ([have] you forgotten already?)
U for me
> W for a bob (double you for a bob [bob=shilling])
W for trumps (whist? or bridge?)
> Y for God's sake (why, for God's sake?)
Y for secratery (wife or secretary)
> Z for breezes (zephyr breezes)
Z for shirts (Zephyr Shirts, a brand of shirts.)
Of course, my informant may have made his own changes.
-- Stan Isaacs <isaacs@hpcc01.corp.hp.com>