The g is the most beautiful letter in the alphabet. No question. The other sounds more or less made up their mind what forms they were going to take by the third century; not the g. It started out as a C with an accent – G, to make the hard sound ‘guh’ – and the tail has been posing elegantly in indefinite positions ever since. Readers are creatures of habit. We don’t tolerate change much (although we allow the ‘a’ a little freedom) but when the g presents itself we seem to relax, smile to each other and forgive the new disguise. It’s our old friend again, playing g-games.