According to the Greek alphabet, the World Health Organization was expected to name the latest Covid-19 variant “Nu” or “Xi.” But both names were seen as problematic.

But the Greek alphabet also has letters that look familiar but sound different — P makes an R sound. Then there are letters that are unrecognizable, such as psi — shaped like a little pitchfork.

The World Health Organization skipped a couple of letters in the Greek alphabet when it named the omicron variant. That fueled all sorts of speculation and claims on social media about why the ...