Everyone is familiar with the alphabet song, with breaks for breaths and scaling up and down of the tone as you go. It kinda goes like this:
“(scaling up) abcdefg (breathe… scaling down) hijklmnop (breathe… scaling up) qrs (scaling down) tuv (scaling up) wx (scaling down) y and z; (breathe) now I know my ABCs, next time won’t you sing with me.”
But… can you do it backwards? A long time ago, I learned to recite the alphabet backwards. The technique is a little different. There’s no tune and the breaks are different, but once you’ve learned it it never goes away.
Recite the letters below. No tune, keep it monotone. Ok… take a deep breathe and try it… out loud. No cheating. I’ve grouped the letters 3+3+7+7+3+3. The spaces in the string of letters indicate a slight pause, for rhythm.
zyx wvu tsrqpon mlkjihg fed cba
Try it a few times… and then try it without reading it off the screen. Drop back and tell me your wild and crazy stories of how you impressed all your friends with your new found talent.
jody
April 2, 2009 at 7:20 am
I remember being introduced to this radical concept as a kid by someone’s grandfather. I never did take the time to learn it, but it a surefire way to impress children, if not drunk adults.
Here’s another method to learn it:
ZY was an X-Warrior his wife gave him a coupon. “VUTS(whats) R(are) QPON(coupon) for” he ask? “for MLK(milk) JIHGs(jugs) to FED(feed) the Cute Baby Alligators”
From http://www.instructables.com/id/S2UUOZ1FJNELLVF/
Steve
April 2, 2009 at 7:39 am
I think I’d have a harder time learning that sentence than the tebahpla.
Nadine
April 2, 2009 at 11:44 am
You both have wayyyyyyyyyyyyy to much time on your hands.
Steve
April 2, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Ha! You’re reading this shit too!
Melissa
April 6, 2009 at 4:17 pm
I tried it, and I can do it now!!!! Took maybe 10 tries though. lol
zyx wvu tsrqpon mlkjihg fed cba!!! I know that doesn’t prove that I can do it, but I really can! Yay! Thanks!
Steve
April 7, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Awesome! Now go out and impress your friends!
Rob
April 23, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I learned the alphabet backwards before I did forwards. My Mom and Aunt were always doing it that way to tease me, show-off etc. Anyway, before too long I knew it backwards and still got confused doing it forwards. I was 3 or 4. Anyway…about 30 years later I got stopped by Police in Philadelphia after going to a Flyers – Leafs Hockey game. The smell of beer was all over me, fortunately not in me. The cop asked to say the alphabet and stop at “L”. I said “forwards or Backwards officer”? He said backwards. I did it…he was impressed and said “no further tests needed” and then drove off.
Anyway…here is how I group it:
ZYX WV UTS RQP ONM LKJ IHG FED CBA
Steve
April 23, 2009 at 5:20 pm
That’s a cool story Rob. Your comment would have made a better post than my post!