I used to have excellent penmanship, and I was FAST. 20 years ago, I started working with HAZMAT. The regs require that everything be PRINTED, rather than CURSIVE, for the sake of legibility, identification, and to prove who actually signed for what. My penmanship now is embarrassing.
How do you feel about the death of cursive handwriting?
- Thread starter Chango
- Start date
Right up there with the death of journalism!
And professionalism. And integrity.
Soon no one will even be able to read the lies...
AA
And professionalism. And integrity.
Soon no one will even be able to read the lies...
AA
I am a physician and before the era of the electronic health record I started to print everything for legibility. I have pretty bad penmanship but my printed stuff was relatively legible. I think it's ridiculous that docs would scribble things and expect someone to decipher it. I'm sure many errors occurred as a result.
SO, while excellent cursive penmanship is lovely, I think it should be relegated to art, not basic skills. We barely need to print things anymore!
SO, while excellent cursive penmanship is lovely, I think it should be relegated to art, not basic skills. We barely need to print things anymore!
𝓞𝓱 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓶𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓘 𝓰𝓸𝓽 𝓼𝔀𝓪𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓴𝓷𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓵𝓮𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓢𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓼 𝓟𝓪𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝓲𝔁𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓾𝓹 𝓽𝓱𝓮 "𝓯" 𝓪𝓷𝓭 "𝓳". 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓾𝓼𝓵𝔂. 𝓘 𝓯𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓵𝔂 𝓻𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓻𝓮𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓼𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓶 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 "𝓽𝔂𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓹𝓸𝓸𝓵". 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓬𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓷 𝓭𝓸 𝓪 𝓵𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓯𝓵𝓲𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓲𝓭𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓸𝓻 𝓼𝓾𝓮𝓭. 𝓞𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 𝓸𝓵𝓮 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼 (𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓰𝓸).
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Let's not confuse nostalgia with reality. The vast majority of handwriting has always been an artless function-first necessity. If it's not being taught anymore, that is merely because state and federal governments expect children at certain ages to have learned certain things, and if the school is full of students who are struggling to keep up with the curriculum, then less critical things just have to be set aside to allot more time for the basics.
In a world where kids grew up with keyboards and can type far faster than they can write (I'm older than that, but nonetheless my typing speed is three times that of my illegible scribbling and six times faster than writing legibly) and Chromebooks are more common than chalkboards, learning to write in cursive just isn't a life-critical skill anymore. Just like how learning to chop wood isn't a necessary skill for those of us without a woodburning fireplace.
I found a Kate Gladstone quote I was looking for earlier: "Mandating cursive to preserve handwriting resembles mandating stovepipe hats and crinolines to preserve the art of tailoring."
Cursive writing. Drivers Ed. Dinosaurs.
It's been more than a decade or two or three since I've written cursive. Recently got back into fountain pen writing and inked up a restored 1950s Pelikan 140 and couldn't remember which way to loop the lower case q lol.
It's been more than a decade or two or three since I've written cursive. Recently got back into fountain pen writing and inked up a restored 1950s Pelikan 140 and couldn't remember which way to loop the lower case q lol.
While not trying to argue your points, I do wonder about contracts. Everything I have ever "signed" for, of any significance (house, cars, loans, wills), has required a signature, followed by a "printed" name. Without cursive, how we do that?
A signature does not have to be your name written in cursive. It is anything that you're willing to swear in a court of law as being your mark, personally identifiable to you and proving your intent to agree to the terms of the document. If you print it, then you print it. Hell, I've electronically filed any number of taxes and similar legal documents where my "signature" was my name, typed.
They ask for a printed name because so many people's signatures are illegible and cannot be identified as a name.
He may not see your question, as you embedded inside the post you quote (I’ve done that before). I only saw it because expanded.
The loop in lower case q goes counter clockwise direction. The lower case g I CWCursive writing. Drivers Ed. Dinosaurs.
It's been more than a decade or two or three since I've written cursive. Recently got back into fountain pen writing and inked up a restored 1950s Pelikan 140 and couldn't remember which way to loop the lower case q lol.
Essay questions are still a thing. It's not much slower to print than to write cursive, if you're used to printing.
Cursive writing develops fine motor skills. I watch middle and high school kids struggle with tasks requiring fine motor skills. Typing (two fingered or all digits) is not a fine motor skill.
Learning cursive writing takes personal time and focus. What do today's kids' think about learning skills (physical and mental) that require drawn out effort? Not going to waste time answering that question.
The brain perceives typing as copying. Very little thought effort is used while typing. The kids just copy what's on the board and let their minds wander.
While handwriting, printing or scripting, the brain reads the material, aligns the words/concepts/data with previous knowledge/experience, and often condenses or adds content. These are higher level thinking tasks young typists seldom employ.
JMTCW
Learning cursive writing takes personal time and focus. What do today's kids' think about learning skills (physical and mental) that require drawn out effort? Not going to waste time answering that question.
The brain perceives typing as copying. Very little thought effort is used while typing. The kids just copy what's on the board and let their minds wander.
While handwriting, printing or scripting, the brain reads the material, aligns the words/concepts/data with previous knowledge/experience, and often condenses or adds content. These are higher level thinking tasks young typists seldom employ.
JMTCW
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
My handwriting is ugly but predominantly readable. I don't care how pretty, uniform, or styled anyone else's is, so long as I can read that too. I care more for the function than the appearance, and wouldn't mourn the absence of any particular style.
𝓘 𝓶𝓾𝓬𝓱 𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓯𝓮𝓻 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
I think my problem with it, is that while it might be fast for writing, I don't find it a particularly fast or clear for reading. Especially round clusters of "m"s and "n"s, I find myself having to pause to check/decipher/count the peaks. Variations between writers takes time to calibrate to as well, often an "r" and "s" can be frustratingly similar for example. If I can't scan read it, then it "fails" as handwriting in my opinion, irrespective of how stylish or classical/traditional it is. I've seen a lot of incredibly neat, but nigh on illegible (to me) writing in that style.
If only the writer has to read it, that's no problem, but for communicating with others, it isn't always as clear as other styles of writing. That's what made me never want to learn it. I do have a somewhat joined handwriting, but not cursive. I don't know how it would be categorised.
Here the n looks like an m, the m would confuse the heck out of me, and I would misread the q as a g. As for the letters between tand x, if they weren't in alphabetical order, I wouldn't be sure where one stopped and the next one starts, so the v could be n, the start of the w could be an r, the w itself could be a u and r.... nah, I'll pass
If only the writer has to read it, that's no problem, but for communicating with others, it isn't always as clear as other styles of writing. That's what made me never want to learn it. I do have a somewhat joined handwriting, but not cursive. I don't know how it would be categorised.
Here the n looks like an m, the m would confuse the heck out of me, and I would misread the q as a g. As for the letters between tand x, if they weren't in alphabetical order, I wouldn't be sure where one stopped and the next one starts, so the v could be n, the start of the w could be an r, the w itself could be a u and r.... nah, I'll pass
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A great ink. If you like Asa Gao you should try Visconti Blue. Another stunning blue.Cursive writing. Drivers Ed. Dinosaurs.
It's been more than a decade or two or three since I've written cursive. Recently got back into fountain pen writing and inked up a restored 1950s Pelikan 140 and couldn't remember which way to loop the lower case q lol.
How do I feel about cursive dying out? I feel like it will never happen. Like it or not typing has taken the place of handwriting for everyday communication. Most people coming through school now have shocking handwriting and they don’t care because this lack of skill does not seem to hold them back in any real way. To them content is important, presentation and formality matter little. Personally I think that handwriting is a part of your identity and I do think it’s an important reflection of how you present yourself generally. Of course I am in the minority and I will freely admit that.
Cursive may be dead as a utilitarian form of communication but is alive and well as an art form. Think of all the signs, advertising, special cards, and other communication it is still used for. People still love the look of Spencerian script. Only the smallest minority have dedicated the time required to learn it but the knowledge is out there for anyone to learn in books. Cursive is special and there will always be people who are interested in it. I like it a great deal and have studied the Palmer form as a hobby for some time. I find it therapeutic and good for the mind and mood to practice. It is also a link to our recent past when people made more of an effort to present well. At the same time I am also glad that I am not required to invoice and work ledgers by hand as my predecessors did in the past. This must have been sheer drudgery.
Don’t cry for cursive. It has been around for a long time is still Relevant. Every child is fascinated by it and wants to learn to write their name in it. This is a good omen for cursive and polite society. We just need to see it in a new light as an art form.
Cursive may be dead as a utilitarian form of communication but is alive and well as an art form. Think of all the signs, advertising, special cards, and other communication it is still used for. People still love the look of Spencerian script. Only the smallest minority have dedicated the time required to learn it but the knowledge is out there for anyone to learn in books. Cursive is special and there will always be people who are interested in it. I like it a great deal and have studied the Palmer form as a hobby for some time. I find it therapeutic and good for the mind and mood to practice. It is also a link to our recent past when people made more of an effort to present well. At the same time I am also glad that I am not required to invoice and work ledgers by hand as my predecessors did in the past. This must have been sheer drudgery.
Don’t cry for cursive. It has been around for a long time is still Relevant. Every child is fascinated by it and wants to learn to write their name in it. This is a good omen for cursive and polite society. We just need to see it in a new light as an art form.
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i have known and do know a few people very few that have the most beautiful cursive handwriting i mean some bordered on art but for myself back in the 1970's i went to print on all my writing as i kept a family journal for over 30 years and because i had the ugliest cursive writing that you can imagine i could hardly read it.for years i have signed papers legal and all with my printed last name done with a little flair. john
