The English alphabet consists of 26 letters, from A to Z. The 27th character that was once taught alongside the alphabet letters is the ampersand (&) . However, the ampersand was never officially considered a letter of the alphabet. It was used to represent the word "and" and was included in the alphabet song as "and per se and". The ampersand was dropped from the alphabet in the mid-19th century because people rushed through the alphabet and the phrase "and per se and" was difficult to say quickly. The ampersand is still used today as a symbol for "and" in many contexts, such as in book titles, movie titles, and brand names.