W2

Behold a W upon the pathway and take care, for it is the mark of the snake and here the serpent has slithered and perhaps still slithers on his slithery expedition from apple tree to apple tree. Beware, also, a W in the water, for it betokens the wake of the slippery eel and the grim swim of the parasitical lamprey. Harken ye to the flutter of W in the air, for it be the monstrous wing of the gryphon whose flashing fangs run red with the blood of ….excuse me, I was getting rather carried away there.
Anyway, the letter W, a deriviation of the Runic “wynn” and properly pronounced “double U”, is the only English letter name comprised of more than one syllable. Consequently, when spoken aloud, the supposedly abbreviated version of the expression “world wide web” – “double U, double U, double U” – actually employs more syllables than the original phrase itself.
In my book, then, W stands for “Worthless”, and let me just add by way of certain proof that the letter does not appear in any of the romance languages. This clumsy and awkward letter would obviously be far more interesting had it remained the “double V” it was in ancient times.
And that is all from the alphabet in 2004, we shall deal with X, Y and Z in the new year.