Episode #015, 15.01.2012: Spotlight: One and two letter words in the English language

One thing has always fascinated me about the English language, something that very few languages have: one letter words.

1. One word is actually the same as in German, Ukrainian and Russian:
   O, interjection. Expression of earnestness or reverence, used before the name of a deity or revered person in impassioned speech.
   This word is even in the title of the national anthem of Canada: O Canada. It is very, very popular with poets.
2. First person singular subject personal pronoun: I
   This one is clear, I hope. Did you know that it is also a noun? In metaphysics, the I means the ego, the self.
3. And finally there is: a. The indefinite article.

Did you notice how they are all important words? This is probably no coincidence. Words you use often tend to be shorter, because people don’t want to waste time.

For that, there are even more words that have the same sound as just one letter, such as:

• B, as in to be or the insect bee.
• C, as in sea for ocean or to see.
• G, for the interjection “Gee!” from American slang signifying surprise or a dirty word from Irish slang.
• I (eye), for the visual organ.
• J (jay), for a dated insult or for a type of bird. I’m not a biologist, but a jay is somewhat like a magpie.
• K, for the short version of okay.
• N, for the short version of and.
• P, for the small green vegetable (pea) or to urinate (pee).
• Q, for cue, the stick you use for pool or a signal for somebody to do something. Queue is also British English for a waiting line.
• R, as in you are. It is also a frequent word in pirate English.
• T, for the beverage made by combining boiling water with leaves (tea).
• U, for the second-person personal pronoun (you).
• X, often used for the word cross, as in x out.
• Y, when asking for reasons (Why?).

Furthermore, there are a whole bunch of words that have only two letters, like:

OK, to, ah, by, bi, of, as, ex, go, is, he, it, we, us, me, my, hi, id, if, in, no, on, or, pi and many others.

So keep it short, but not too short.

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Intro and outro music in the podcast: The Jam by General Fuzz (generalfuzz.net)