An old riddle asks, “Can you name a word with three consecutive double letters?” Difficult to answer but one possible answer is WOOLLEN.

Another satisfying solution is BOOKKEEPER (or BOOKKEEPING), the only common words with a consecutive triple double.

English has borrowed words from multiple languages. The result is multiple pronunciations for the same spelling; with various intonation patterns, stresses, and accents that can alter the meaning of a sentence. English grammar is riddled with exceptions and irregularities, making it difficult to master. The representation of each letter in the English language and the frequencies vary. Vowels are typically more common in words than consonants, but there are still many consonants that are frequently used.

The most used letter in the alphabet

  • the most common letter in the alphabet is the letter “E”.
  • appear 11.51% of the time in all words analyzed.
  • The letter “S” ranks second (9.52%) and the letter “I” ranks third (9.01%).

What is the least used letter in the alphabet?

  • the letter “J” is the least common letter in the alphabet.
  • appears just 0.16% of the time in the words analyzed.
  • Other low frequency letters include “Q” with a frequency of 0.16% and “X” which shows up 0.29% of the time.

Excluded are hyphenated words like COOL-LOOKING, BALLOON-NET (lace) and SLEEPPOOR, two-word terms such as BARROOM MAN and CAREER ROOM, apostrophised terms,
eg COFFEE’LL (coffee will), exclamations (mainly) with multiple identical letters like
GRRRRRR! and AAAAHH! and website/app names, eg SCHOOLLOOP and
COOKKEEPBOOK.
Also omitted are erroneous forms like BALLOONNEER (ballooner) and strained coinages such
as VACCUUMMOOING, cows in space, or the sound of a worn-out vacuum cleaner?

WHO KNEW THERE WERE SO MANY?

Then there are other words of note:

The longest words in the dictionary are: antidisestablishmentarianism – opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England – 28 letters. floccinaucinihilipilification – the estimation of something as worthless – 29 letters. pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis – a supposed lung disease – 45 letters.

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