• seventh letter of the Latin alphabet, fifth consonant
  • phonetic names: 1) "voiced velar plosive" (hard); sound: press the back of your tongue onto your velum and make a short sound using your vocal cords, 2) "voiced postalveolar affricate" (soft); sound: press the middle of your tongue gently against the back of your upper teeth, and make a slight buzzy sound with your vocals cords
  • in Egyptian, four hieroglyphs pronounced similar to 'G': a jar, a handled basket, a hill, and a cobra
  • 'G' is a later-comer to the alphabet; influenced by the sound of Phoenician gimel and Greek gamma, 'G' was created as a variation of 'C' in either 312 BCE by the Romans or 250 BCE to distinguish the consonant's softer pronunciation (which at the time sounded like K). Also, zeta (uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ)
  • in Roman, 'G' represents 400
  • 'G' can be hard (i.e.: gut) or soft (like 'j' sound) when followed by an e, i or y (i.e.: magic) (Note: 'G' rules are very similar to 'C' rules)
  • 'G' can also be silent when followed by an n (i.e. gnome) or when in words ending in igh, ough (i.e.: sigh, cough)
  • lower case has two variations: a single-story version with a tail curling under (aka opentail), and a two-story version (aka looptail). The opentail derives from a variation of the uppercase (closing the loop and extending the stroke downwards and to the left). The looptail version first looked like a number 3 with a flat top; the upper bar later started to curve down, until the loop eventually closed completely, leaving a circle with an elegant looping tail (which is sometimes open, sometimes closed). Also, the nib on the top right side of looptail version is called an ear.
  • in upper case 'G', the central stem is usually slightly below the letter's geometric centre
  • associated with expansion, germination, and grandeur
  • the spiral shape of upper case 'G' has often been a symbol of life, growth and fruitfulness, as well as movement and revolution, especially counter clockwise (see G, think gyro, Greek for "circular movement")
  • 'G' also has an element of vitality/birth, i.e. 'g' for grain, germinate, genesis; also, Ge and Gaia, Greek terms for Earth
  • also connected to throat, speech and eating, ie. 'g' for guttural (guttur is Latin for "throat"), gargle, regurgitate, gluttony, gourmet, gastronomy
  • also tied to all things grand, ie. 'g' for grandeur, great, grandiose, gargantuan, gigantic (from Greek giga which means "giant" and often stands for 1 billion)
  • 'G' in freemasonry is often found in a five-pointed star, and implies glory, generosity, grandeur, genius, generation, gnosis (Greek for knowledge), gravitation and geometry
  • in physics, 'g' stands for gravity; a G-suit is worn to help withstand G-force
  • in biology, 'g' is guanine
  • in weight, 'g' stands for gram
  • in electronics, 'g' in conductance, the ability of a material to pass electrons
  • 'G' in music in the note 'sol', the fifth note in a C-major musical scale (Sol also means "sun" in Latin)
  • a film rated 'G' is suitable for a general audience
  • NATO phonetic alphabet: GOLF
  • 'G' in 'G-7' stands for group; in this case, the seven biggest industrial nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Unite Kingdom and USA (for 'G-8', add Russia)
  • 'G' in G-Man stands for government in 1930s gangster movies
  • 'G's' is a colloquial expression for money (i.e. 100 G's = 100 grand, $100,000)
  • 'G-spot' is a female erogenous zone named after German gynecologist Ernst Gräfenberg
  • 'G-string' is a type of skimpy underwear (similar to a thong) worn by strippers or dancers, and may have originated from the term geestring, which held the loincloth of Native Americans. 'G' may stand for girdle, genital or groin.
  • G can also abbreviate gallon, German, good, government, gram, gulf
  • phonetic sound, "gee", is an example of a minced oath: an expression based on a profanity that has been altered or abbreviated to reduce the objectionable characteristics of the original expression; in this case, "gee" or "Jeez" is shortened, tamer version of "Jesus!"