On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
Charles Babbage
I have a real treat in store for you! At least for those amongst you who play hangman, or enjoy amateur cryptography...
After counting 177 million letters from a series of about 700 online texts, I have compiled a table of letter frequencies. I only hope my precision in these figures relates to their accuracy...
Alphabetical By Frequency ------------ ------------ A: 13,437,042 E: 21,414,330 E = 12.079% B: 2,817,942 T: 15,737,500 T = 8.877% C: 4,874,637 A: 13,437,042 A = 7.579% D: 7,621,661 O: 12,886,204 O = 7.268% E: 21,414,330 I: 11,313,244 I = 6.381% F: 4,711,343 N: 11,249,350 N = 6.345% G: 3,353,542 S: 11,192,675 S = 6.313% H: 9,632,780 R: 10,435,905 R = 5.886% I: 11,313,244 H: 9,632,780 H = 5.433% J: 225,326 D: 7,621,661 D = 4.299% K: 6,682,865 L: 7,092,898 L = 4.001% L: 7,092,898 K: 6,682,865 K = 3.769% M: 4,227,569 C: 4,874,637 C = 2.749% N: 11,249,350 F: 4,711,343 F = 2.657% O: 12,886,204 U: 4,696,832 U = 2.649% P: 3,892,005 M: 4,227,569 M = 2.385% Q: 493,473 P: 3,892,005 P = 2.195% R: 10,435,905 W: 3,716,884 W = 2.096% S: 11,192,675 G: 3,353,542 G = 1.892% T: 15,737,508 Y: 3,106,363 Y = 1.752% U: 4,696,832 B: 2,817,942 B = 1.589% V: 1,575,905 V: 1,575,905 V = 0.889% W: 3,716,884 X: 761,380 X = 0.429% X: 761,380 Q: 493,473 Q = 0.278% Y: 3,106,363 J: 225,326 J = 0.127% Z: 142 521 Z: 142,521 Z = 0.080% Order of Consonants: T N S R H D L K C F M P W G Y B V X Q J Z Order of vowels: E A O I U Total letters counted: 177,292,184