Here’s list of some common and not-so-common words that begin with a letter of the alphabet. Perhaps you can think of others?
A-Levels : A-Levels, or Advanced Levels, are subject-based qualifications that many British students take at the end of secondary school in order to apply for university admission.
A-list : The A-list is part of a larger guide called The Hot List that has become an industry-standard guide in Hollywood. An A-list celebrity is an actor at the very top of their acting career. It is also used outside the film industry to describe a list or group of individuals of the highest level of society, excellence, or eminence.
B-movie : A B-movie is a low-budget commercial film (hence the B for budget) that was originally intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature in the Golden Age of Hollywood movies.
C-stream : In schools that use streaming (also known as ‘tracking’ or “phasing”) students are separating into different streams based on their intellectual or academic ability, usually A, B and C-stream, with the C-stream being for the students of the lowest academic ability.
D-Day : In military terminology, D-Day is the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. The best known D-Day occurred during World War II on June 6, 1944, the day of the Normandy Landings which were the beach landings and associated airborne operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord.
E-boat : E-boat was the Western Allies' name for the fast attack craft used by the German navy during World War II. The E represented the word enemy. (German: Schnellboot, or S-Boot, meaning "fast boat".)
F-stop : The f-stop is one of the two primary measurements of a camera lens. The f-stop is the ratio of the focal length and the aperture diameter: f-stop = focal length / aperture diameter.
G-man : G-man (short for "government man", plural G-men) is an American slang term for agents of the United States government. It is especially used as a term for an agent of the FBI.
G-string : A very skimpy version of an item of underwear.
H-bomb : The H-bomb, or hydrogen bomb, is a thermonuclear fusion weapon.
I-beam : An I-beam (also sometimes known as an H-beam is a structural steel beam, used in construction, with a cross section shaped like a capital I.
J-cloth : A light, absorbent, reusable cloth used for wiping household surfaces. The J is from Johnson and Johnson, the original makers of these cloths.
K-rations : The K-ration was an individual daily combat food ration which was introduced by the United States Army during World War II. The K stands for Kommando.
L- plate : An L-plate is a square plate bearing the letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and/or back of a vehicle in many countries if its driver is a learner under instruction, or a motorcycle rider with provisional entitlement to ride restricted motorcycles.
M-way : In the UK, a road numbering scheme is a used to classify and identify all roads. Motorways have the M designation before or after the road number, such as M1 or A1(M). The addition of the ‘(M)’ means the former dual carriageway (the A1) has been upgraded to motorway status.
N-gauge : The N- scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer, the scale ranges from 1∶148 to 1∶160. In all cases, the N-gauge is 9 mm.
O-ring : An O-ring is a circular-shaped rubber seal designed to be seated in a groove and compressed between two or more parts, creating a tight seal at the interface.
P-type : A p-type is a type of semi-conductor. The term p-type refers to the positive charge of a hole. As opposed to n-type semiconductors, p-type semiconductors have a larger hole concentration than electron concentration.
Q-tip : A Q-tip is a cotton swab consisting of short, thin, flexible plastic rods with a swab of cotton wool at each end; they are typically used for cleaning the ears and other hard-to-reach places. The Q-tip was invented in the 1920's by Leo Gerstenzang (a Polish-born American.) The Q in Q-tips stands for quality.
R-number : The R-number, or the reproduction number, is a way of rating a virus’s ability to spread. It is the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to, on average.
R-month : One of the months from September to April during which oysters are traditionally in season in the northern hemisphere.
S-bend : An S-bend is a double curve in a pipe that forms a shape similar to an s; also a similar curve in the road.
T- junction : A T-junction is the intersection of two roads where one road meets another without crossing it, forming an intersection in the shape of the letter T.
T-shirt : A T-shirt is a fabric shirt usually made of inexpensive material which is named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline with no collar, known as a crew neck.
U-turn : A U-turn is a U-shaped turn made by a vehicle so as to head in the opposite direction from its original course.
V-neck : A shirt or sweater with a neck that has an opening shaped like the letter V, it is also the name of the neck opening itself.
W-particle : The W-particle is one of two massive electrically charged sub-atomic particles that are thought to transmit the weak force, which is the force that governs radioactive decay in certain kinds of atomic nuclei.
X-ray : X-rays make up X-radiation, a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. An X-ray is a quick and painless test that produces images of the structures inside the human body, particularly the bones.
Y-fronts : A style of snug-fitting underwear for men, characterised by the inverted Y-shape formed by the seams at the front of the underpants. This classic style of men’s briefs was first sold in 1935, by Cooper’s Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, and were also called Jockeys.
Z-axis : The z-axis is one of three axes in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. The z-axis is perpendicular to the x-axis and the y-axis and is used to measure or plot the values of z.
