r

[jiacinto]

stuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopq

now please discuss this arrangement. The key question involves the alphabet. Why can't r be the first letter instead of a? Why can't the alphabet be like this?

[KaraokeKarlton]

1. are you drunk?

n/t

[kentuck]

2. Where's your "z" ?

:) Don't you know we are perfectionists?

[wuushew]

3. The combination of n objects taken r at a time equals....

n!/(n-r)!*r!

then take sum of all r combinations for all possible non-repeatable combination arangements

[jiacinto]

What does that equation mean

and what does ! mean?

[wuushew]

16. ! = factorial

example 5! = 5*4*3*2*1

so lets say you had 5 unique objects {ABCDE}

Total unique combination without respect to order
5n1r 5
5n2r 10
5n3r 10
5n4r 5
5n5r 1




A B C D E
AB AC AD AE BC BD BE CD CE DE
ABC ABD ABE ACD ACE ADE BCD BCE BDE CDE
ABCD ABCE ABDE ACDE BCDE
ABCDE

[JVS]

19. This creates pascal's triangle if you keep going for different numbers

0c0= 1
1c0=1 1c1=1
2c0=1 2c1=2 2c2=1
3c0=1 3c1=3 3c2=3 3c3=1
4c0=1 4c1=4 4c2=6 4c3=4 4c4=1
5c0=1 5c1=5 5c2=10 5c3=10 5c4=5 5c5=1

and so on, building the triangle
1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1

Edit typo.

[jiacinto]

24. This is really confusing

nt

[Ivory_Tower]

4. Grrr...you changed the second "s" to "z"

So much for my original comment....

There's an old Steven Wright line that goes: "Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of the song?"

[CatWoman]

5. why is this dumb shit here?

Lounge isn't good enough for you?

[Brucey]

6. How would the song go that little kids use?

[charlie]

7. Knowing you...

it could be some piffle about d's location in the center after r is removed.

[CatWoman]

8. Maybe its his tribute to Ralph Nade

"r"..............

[charlie]

10. Shush about Nader!

Let's keep this thread under 500 posts (and keep Carlos' count from swelling another 350).

[Wonk]

9. Best jiacinto thread EVER!

[roguevalley]

11. You know, they say if you keep the first letter and last letter right,

the middle letters can be garbled and you can
still read it. <G> CLose?

[Ivory_Tower]

12. The miracle of Google

Earliest alphabetical order:

http://www.unifon.org/alfa-earliest-order.html





So apparently it's been that way for a while.
(Okay, done being a geek for tonight, and going to bed.)

[jiacinto]

15. Interesting

When was this from?

[Ivory_Tower]

17. 1400 to 1200 B.C.

And I just realized that it's NOT in our familiar order, so I guess it did change at some point. But I'm too tired to look into tonight.

But I remember that this always fascinated me when I was a kid, so I'll have to keep checking later.

[jiacinto]

18. So

What language is this the forerunner to?

[Ivory_Tower]

20. Found this graphic

Interesting stuff.

NOW I'm going to bed. 'night.

[jiacinto]

23. Ok

What is the Ugartic family of languages? And what did Prot-Cannatie sound like?

[AntiCoup2K4]

13. But then how would Big Bird sing his song?

ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL-MNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ
It's the most remarkable word I've ever seen
ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL-MNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ
I wish I knew exactly what I mean
It starts out like an "A" word as anyone can see
But somewhere in the middle it gets awful "QR" to me
ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL-MNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ
If I ever find out just what this word can mean
I'll be the smartest bird the world has ever seen!

It might be kind of an elephant
Or a funny kind of kazoo
Or strange, exotic turtle
You never see in a zoo
Or maybe a kind of a doggie
Or particular shade of blue
Or maybe a pretty flower
Naah, not with a name like that, Uh uh!

ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL-MNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ
It's the most remarkable word I've ever seen
ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL-MNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ
I wish I knew exactly what I mean
It starts out like an "A" word as anyone can see
But somewhere in the middle it gets awful "QR" to me
ABC-DEF-GHI-JKL-MNOP-QRSTUV-WXYZ
If I ever find out just what this word can mean
I'll be the smartest bird the world has ever seen!

[xxqqqzme]

14. well CA just had an alphabet lottery

4 the recall ballots...so whatever turns U on!

[hunter]

21. I thought you were talking like a pirate...

...but not a very good one.

"r" back at you.

[neuvocat]

22. Excellent posts, all things considered.

One of the most enjoyable threads I have seen in a LONG time. Thank you, everyone.

:)