Laughing with Di – April 2021

A large, capital, bold E has been the predominant letter on eye exam charts since forever. E holds importance as the fifth letter of our alphabet and as one of the most frequently used vowels. It is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet known familiarly as “eta” (which is really H). It is the third tone of the C major scale. And, Eureka! It tricks us every now and then by sounding like it starts with a “u” (ewe see?).
Let’s have a laugh….
Then something happened, electronically speaking, and the letter E was relegated to small “e” status. So many of us communicate via email which, I think, is the culprit that necessitated the creation of a whole new page of words in the dictionary. We engage in e-trading, read e-books and e-magazines, we produce e-signatures and many of us e-file taxes. We are occupied with e-commerce, e-banking, e-business, etc. One use of the capital “E” still visible and familiar to all of us is the “E” Entertainment Channel.
Egad! What if we lost the use of lower-case “e”? It once happened in a children’s book I read long ago with my grandkids. The letter “e” decided to go on strike and the letter “o” volunteered to be used as a substitute and to fill in where needed doing double duty. In the book they lamented, “this won’t bo osy”. Imagine if such a departure from the alphabet could ultimately shut down the Internet! Would we use o-mail? That reminds me of an old saying (not):
To make sure all is well on the Internet
Don’t mess with the vowels of the alphabet. (groan)
The next time you have an examination at your eye doctor’s office, show a little nostalgic respect for that Big E.
By the way, have a Happy Easter!