People are totally mind-blown after discovering 27th letter in the alphabet

Learning the alphabet is a trip down memory lane to those early primary school days.

It starts with A, B, C, D... and you know the rest... The alphabet is known to have 26 letters, but a recent TikTok revelation has thrown a spanner in the works by claiming there's actually a 27th letter.

The post, shared by @zachdfilms3, who also explained the reasoning behind green motorway signs, introduced his 84,200 followers to the '27th letter' of the alphabet. He revealed: "Ampersand is 27th letter."

He explained: "This is an ampersand and believe it or not it used to be the 27th letter in the alphabet, you see back in the day this symbol came after the letter Z and signified the word 'and'."

The video went on: "But when reciting the alphabet, students weren't allowed to just say 'and' after Z. Instead they were taught to differentiate the symbol by saying 'per se' before it, it sounded something like this Q R S T U V W X Y Z and. And 'per se and' ampersand."

Are you as surprised as we are? It seems many TikTok users were just as taken aback, with the video racking up 55,800 likes and numerous comments. One user commented: "Okay the ampersand one is actually pretty cool."

Another was equally impressed: "So what's why we say y AND z? Wow." However, some remained sceptical, with one person stating: "That is NOT an ampersand, this is an 'and' symbol."

For those finding it hard to believe, it's worth noting the term ampersand first entered the English dictionary in 1835.

Initially, it was recognised as a standalone letter where British students were educated to consider it as the 27th letter of the alphabet. However, this practice ceased in 1835 and in contemporary England, the alphabet consists of only 26 letters.