I thought this was a good idea from the start, but I wasn't sure exactly how I would rank 26 different letters. So I turned to something that made sense: numbers. I decided to rank the letters 1 through 10 based on frequency, sound and looks. The four rarest letters got an 8/10 on the frequency scale. If any of the letters had the same total (eg if two letters both had 17/30) then I just picked the best looking one or my favorite, since it's my list. This is all capital letters, and for letters with more than one sound, I ranked each sound out of 10 and took the average.
26. B: with a frequency of 3/10, sound of 3/10, and looks of 3/10, with a total of 9/30. Favorite B word: Basketball or Bungalow
25. J: a frequency of 1/10, sound of 4/10, with looks of 5/10, and a grand total of 10/30. Favorite J word: Juxtaposition
24. F: has a frequency of 5/10, sound of 3/10, looks of 5.5/10, totalling up to a 13.5/30. Favorite F word: Firewall
23. U: a frequency of 6/10, sound of 5/10, and looks of 3/10, U comes to a total of 14/30. Favorite U word: Ubiquity
22. I: with a frequency of 9/10, a sound of 4.5/10, and looks of 1/10, I gets a total of 14.5/30. Favorite I word: Imbecile
21. O: a frequency of 9/10, a sound of 4/10, and looks of 2/10, for a total of 15/30. Favorite O word: Octopi
20. C: a frequency of 6/10, sound of 6/10, looks of 3/10, and C achieves a total of 15/30. Favorite C word: Crackerjack
19. V: with a frequency 3/10, sound 6/10, and looks 6/10, totalling up to a 15/30. Favorite V word: Velociraptor
18. K: a frequency of 2/10, sound of 6/10, with looks of 7/10, for a grand total of 15/30. Favorite K word: Kerfuffle
17. L: has a frequency of 7/10, a sound of 6/10, and looks of 3/10, for a total of 16/30. Favorite L word: Lunacy
16. G: gets a frequency of 5/10, sound of 5/10, looks of 6/10, and a total of 16/30. Favorite G word: Gangsta
15. P: frequency of 4/10, sound of 6/10, looks of 8/10, totalling a total of 18/30. Favorite P word: Porcupine
14. S: with a frequency 8/10, a sound of 5/10, and looks of 6/10, S totals a 19/30. Favorite S word: Spectrum
13. D: a frequency of 7/10, sound of 6/10, and looks of 6/10, getting a grand total of 19/30. Favorite D word: Dynamite
12. W: frequency of 5/10, sound of 7/10, looks of 7/10, for a total of 19/30. Favorite W word: Wilkinson (since it's my last name)
11. Y: has a frequency of 4/10, a sound of 7/10, and looks of 8/10, achieving a total of 19/30. Favorite Y word: Yahoo
10. H: has a frequency 8/10, sound of 6.5, and looks of 5/10, totalling up a score of 19.5/30. Favorite H word: Hierarchy
9. M: with a frequency of 6/10, a sound of 6/10, and looks of 8/10, M totals a 20/30. Favorite M word: Malinger
8. R: frequency of 7/10, a sound of 3/10, and looks of 10/10, getting a total of 20/30. Favorite R word: Rambunctious
7. N: has a frequency 9/10, sound of 6/10, and looks of 6/10, making a total of 21/30. Favorite N word: Nautical
6. E: a frequency of 10/10, sound of 4.5/10, and looks of 6/10, achieving a total 21.5/30. Favorite E word: Extraordinary
5. A: frequency of 10/10, sound of 5.5/10, looks of 7/10, for a total of 22.5/30. Favorite A word: Abracadabra
4. T: has a frequency of 10/10, sound of 6/10, with looks of 7/10, making a total of 23/30. Favorite T word: Trey or Thundering
3. Z: a frequency of 8/10, a sound of 7/10, and looks of 8/10, totalling a 23/30. Favorite Z word: Zest
2. Q: frequency of 8/10, sound of 8/10, looks of 8/10, and Q achieves a total of 24/30. Favorite Q word: QWERTY
1. X: gets a frequency 8/10, a sound 8/10, and looks of 9/10, so X tallys a total of 25/30. Favorite X Word: Xylophone. CONGRATULATIONS X!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Takeaways:
My main surprise was that H got into the top 10, but I guess when you're the 8th most used letter, you get carried by the frequency rating. X got a lucky break by being the third rarest, which let it get to spot 1 with a rating of 25/30.
B was not at all surprising, with a generic look and sound, and not very frequently used. E definitely got carried by its 10/10 for frequency, since it got a 10.5/20 on sound and looks combined. I thought Y would get higher, but it is hardly used, and not rare enough to get the bonus 8/10 for frequency.
The Ampersand
Aka the 27th letter, the ampersand would get scores of: looks: 10/10, frequency: 8/10 (rarity points), sound: 10/10 for a total of 28/30, making it the best 'letter' in the English alphabet.
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