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Home > Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing > The Goth letters: why the alphabet goes off the rails after T, with Danny Bate


	Podcast:		Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
	Episode:		The Goth letters: why the alphabet goes off the rails after T, with Danny Bate
	Category:		Education
	Duration:		00:26:13
	Publish Date:		2026-01-01 10:00:00
	Description:		1147. In this bonus segment that originally ran in October, we look at the fascinating history of the "new letters" of the alphabet — V, W, X, Y, and Z. Danny Bate explains why T was the original end of the alphabet and how letters were added by the Greeks and Romans. We also look at the origin of the letter Y, which was originally a vowel, and the two historical reasons we call the final letter “zee” or “zed.” Find Danny Bate on his website, Bluesky or on X. Get the book, "Why Q Needs U." Listen to Danny's podcast, "A Language I Love Is..." Links to Get One Month Free of the Grammar Girl Patreon (different links for different levels) Order of the Snail ($1/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/687E4 Order of the Aardvark ($5/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/07205 Keeper of the Commas ($10/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/50A0B Guardian of the Grammary ($25/month level): https://www.patreon.com/grammargirl/redeem/949F7 Share your familect recording in Speakpipe or by leaving a voicemail at 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475) Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing courses. Subscribe to the newsletter. Take our advertising survey. Get the edited transcript. Get Grammar Girl books. Join Grammarpalooza. Get ad-free and bonus episodes at Apple Podcasts or Subtext. Learn more about the difference. \| HOST: Mignon Fogarty \| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. Audio Engineer: Dan Feierabend Director of Podcast: Holly Hutchings Advertising Operations Specialist: Morgan Christianson Marketing and Video: Nat Hoopes, Rebekah Sebastian \| Theme music by Catherine Rannus. \| Grammar Girl Social Media: YouTube. TikTok. Facebook. Threads. Instagram. LinkedIn. Mastodon. Bluesky. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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