How to write out the alphabet

scully931 · Jun 15, 2009

In my story, two of the characters are looking through files which are listed alphabetically.

How do I write "They found the 'T's without trouble." (or some such thing) It happens more than once so I'm reluctant to just find a clever way around that one sentence.

Not sure if the letter should be in italics or single quote marks or what. Thanks so much for any input!
:Sun:

dpaterso · Jun 15, 2009

Looks fine to me -- that's how I'd do it.

-Derek

Catadmin · Jun 15, 2009

There is no alternate way to spell the letter T. Single quotes work well since no one is actually saying the letter. The only letter I know how to spell is haitch (H) and that's a crossword puzzle convention rather than a real alphabet convention.

Edit: Umm, actually the single quotes are fine if you're using US English. Not sure about British English since all conversation in British English books uses single instead of double quotes.

Dale Emery · Jun 15, 2009

scully931 said:
Not sure if the letter should be in italics or single quote marks or what. Thanks so much for any input!

My Chicago Manual of Style 15th Ed. Section 7.15 says to simply add the s:

Letters, abbreviations, and numerals. Capital letters used as words ... form the plural by adding s. ... [e.g.] the three Rs

Dale

unicornjam · Jun 15, 2009

I know in MLA research papers it's acceptable to use one apostrophe (D's), but I would do it the way Dale described.

Ken · Jun 15, 2009

... it's annoying that there's no way of spelling out letters, like there is numbers

scully931 · Jun 15, 2009

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the help.

Dale Emery · Jun 15, 2009

unicornjam said:
I know in MLA research papers it's acceptable to use one apostrophe (D's), but I would do it the way Dale described.

My inclination was T's until I checked the Chicago MoS. I suspect that style guides vary about whether or not to use the apostrophe. I'm confident that few if any recommend quotation marks.

Dale

The Rav · Jun 15, 2009

Either way--T's or Ts--is acceptable in fiction. No quotation marks, either single or double, needed. That's one of those little things an editor isn't going to mark you down for.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 15, 2009

Ken said:
... it's annoying that there's no way of spelling out letters, like there is numbers

Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo....

RJK · Jun 16, 2009

That's the phonetic alphabet UJ, and there are several versions of that. The US armed forces has one, NATO has one, CB radio buffs have one, etc.

LOG · Jun 16, 2009

Why would one ever need to actually spell one out? Seems kind of odd to me.

Dale Emery · Jun 16, 2009

Ken said:
... it's annoying that there's no way of spelling out letters, like there is numbers

There is a way to spell out any letter: Say or write the letter. Each letter spells itself.

Dale

Ken · Jun 16, 2009

JJM said:
Why would one ever need to actually spell one out? Seems kind of odd to me.

... for the same reason one would sometimes opt to spell out a number when writing.
It just sorta seems fitting, sometimes:
There are seven days in the week.
There are 7 days in the week.
I think there's a rule about numbers though: ones under ten get spelled out?
Anyway, it would just be neat to have spelling out letters as an option, JJM.

ps Neat James. Now if we could only popularize this phonetic alphabet ;-)

Ken · Jun 16, 2009

Dale Emery said:
There is a way to spell out any letter: Say or write the letter. Each letter spells itself.

Dale

wisea...

Oh yeah; that's true.

How to write out the alphabet

scully931

So you're suggesting what? Bigfoot?

dpaterso

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Catadmin

An Author in Search of a Plot

Dale Emery

is way off topic

unicornjam

Ken

scully931

So you're suggesting what? Bigfoot?

Dale Emery

is way off topic

The Rav

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

LOG

Lagrangian

Dale Emery

is way off topic

Ken

Ken