The Penmanship Thread, or, Show Me Your Cursive and I'll Show You Mine

[Richmond Jake]

AIB: dandy "my-handwriting-is-not-so-beautiful" warhol.

So how's your handwriting look?
Me? Classically neat and readable.

Damn you people, wait for me to finish the poll before you start responding!!!
Doing the heavy lifting, again.

[kms]

My handwriting is sloppy and almost illegible. My printing isn't much better.

One of my complaints with my kids' school is that they don't practice cursive like I had to when I was their age. Then they get in trouble when the teachers can't read what they write.

[Mastiff]

I print... everything.

[ofos]

AIB: dandy "my-handwriting-is-not-so-beautiful" warhol.

So how's your handwriting look?
Me? Classically neat and readable.

Sounds more like the Penmanship Threat to me. Mine? I was reprimanded for coloring outside the lines in kindergarten and my cursive is just as bad. I can print reasonably well when necessary but no one would mistake me for an architect or engineer. I'm just too d@mn creative to be bothered by social conventions.

What's illegable (first) and legable? (next to last poll question). Cain't yew spel?

[Zoning Goddess]

I have very nice penpersonship. But I'm always amazed at how many guys (like my estranged brother) still write as badly as they did in 3rd grade.

It is also interesting to see the changes in how cursive has been taught. It is pretty easy to recognize handwriting from, say, the '20s or 30's compared to someone taught in the '60's. My mom's and her brother's handwriting were always very distinctive (translate: old-fashioned, taught in PA in the '20's) compared to my dad and his siblings (again, old fashioned, but different, taught in FL in the '20's).

And I honestly think some schools don't put as much emphasis on handwriting these days because it's assumed that all the students will be using a computer for most of their writing.

[Whose Yur Planner]

I converted to printing/typing/emailing after being fussed at by the secretaries at my first planning job. In my defense, I was on that bubble when lefties were just being allowed to be lefties and not forced to convert to righties. My school more or less said, here are the letters and how they are formed, but we have no idea how to teach you how to form them. Basically, you are on your own.

[cellophane]

mine ranges from really neat to a scrawl.

http://www.yourfonts.com/ is neat and will make a font out of your handwriting. i tried it and it scared me... but when i write for real i tend to connect my letters while printing a block cap - which the font doesnt adjust for.

[Bear Up North]

This Bear had formal training in engineering drawing. This Bear has the absolute ability to produce quality letters, numbers, yadda. This Bear's writing sux. Big time.

And over the years the classic excellent printing has slid into a combination print, write, shorthand, lazy kind of a scrawl. I can't even read my own notes.

When I work on my fake city I take a little more time to print legibly.

Do I care? Nahhh......

Bear

[zman]

When in school, we had to learn cursive. They said we'd exclusively use cursive for the rest of our lives.

I print. Using the tradition of males in my family who print in all CAPS like wannabe architects.

I'd write a sample and post it, but then you'd call the authorities in order to get me committed post haste.

[luckless pedestrian]

I was born a lefty and got switched to a righty by the nuns so my cursive is awful but I am trained to write like the LA's so it saves me a little...

[Otis]

My cursive has deteriorated over the years, as I have more to take notes on and less interest in the subject (can you say "burn out?"). I'm becoming a better printer. I do all caps when I want to play architect.

[otterpop]

I . . . In my defense, I was on that bubble when lefties were just being allowed to be lefties and not forced to convert to righties. My school more or less said, here are the letters and how they are formed, but we have no idea how to teach you how to form them. Basically, you are on your own.

I am also a lefty. I was very fortunate in that my first grade teacher was also left-handed. She helped and encouraged me a lot. My penmanship was not great and my cursive writing was okay.

When I was in sixth grade, I suffered the indignity of being forced to give up my morning recess to go to penmanship classes with first and second graders!. Making it even worse was the nun teaching was old enough to have dated one of the Apostles. Her breath gave you a hint of what brimstone must smell like.

My handwriting has improved over the years. Mostly because I write a lot while journaling or taking notes. I am one of the few people I know whose signature is legible.

I mix my cursive and print letters. For example - I have always used print F's, G's and T's for capitals in cursive writing but use cursive f's, g's and p's for non-capitalized letters. My name starts with an F and I never liked how a cursive F looks as opposed to a print F.

My dad has pretty hard to read handwriting. The letters are not well formed but mostily it is because he writes very tiny.

[kjel]

The third grade was when cursive was introduced to me and I had a very old-school teacher who probably graduated from college in the 1940's, she had meticulous handwriting and drilled it into us. Both my cursive and printing are very neat.

[JNA]

Learned printing and cursive in grade school. It also helped that good examples were Mother, who had been an elementary grade teacher and Father was an Marine (ships) Engineer.

My printing improved through Landscape Architecture course work in undergrad.


Penmanship was a story on NPR Weekend Edition Sunday:
If You Can Read This, It's Probably Not Handwritten
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=100731603

[beach_bum]

In elementary school we used to have handwriting class. We would get a grade every quarter and I used to get a B-, because even thought my handwriting was terrible I was a good student and my teachers didn't think handwriting should keep me off the A B Honor roll....pathetic huh

[Raf]

My father drilled me for good handwriting. I have great curseve, to which i use for notes during meetings. I use lettering for red lines/corrections as well as writing checks. I typically get the question "you an architect" to which i respond, no ma'am i am a marine biologist .

[dandy_warhol]

if i take my time and go slowly my printing is nice. depending on what i'm writing i will either use all caps or upper/lower case. i'm a wannabe architect-type printer.

my cursive is neat when i take my time and go slowly.

unfortunately i'm often in a rush and at meetings i tend to scribble notes for myself to read.

i honestly think the muscles in my right hand are not as strong as the used to be because i rarely write anymore.

[Zoning Goddess]

This Bear had formal training in engineering drawing. This Bear has the absolute ability to produce quality letters, numbers, yadda. This Bear's writing sux. Big time.

Yeah, Rj has that freaky labelling engineering whatever kind of hand-writing. Like he's angry at the world or something.

[Gedunker]

I had a history professor at my little (now closed) college in Maine that wrote the outline for each day's lecture on the chalkboard in ALL CAPS. An impressionable young history major, I decided to copy him and I have my notes from my classes with Dr. Calvin Senning to this day and they are in ALL CAPS.

No one, not even I, can decipher my handwriting. Even my signature looks like a stylized ALL CAPS signature. My day-to-day printing is not stylized architectural but just simple block text. I like being able to read my notes.

[jmello]

I don't write in cursive, and I don't even remember how, but my printing is near perfect I took a few drafting classes in HS and the teacher was fanatical about writing letters and numbers.

[DetroitPlanner]

Many moons ago I was in Architecture School. Therefore, I write in block letters.

[Veloise]

Zaner-Blosser pen!

I print, and the letters are conjoined in an almost cursive way. Handwriting is difficult due to my aging wrists and shabby tendons.

[mendelman]

I write in cursive for notes and such, and like otterpop, I print many first capital letters, like W and V.

My handwriting is certainly legible and rather large (on a normal legal pad I use the entire height of each line).

When I was in school, I was commended by several teachers about my handwriting, but it has gotten more sloppy in adulthood, but still can be read.

And why can't supervisors write legibly when reviewing draft reports/memos?

[Planit]

printing is very standard architecture/drafting style so I'm told I have good penmanship

my cursive ranges from very legible to wavy lines which I can only understand, it depends on if I'm writing to someone or just scribbling a note for me - I have written things down and Ms. P has asked me what it says

both mom & dad had very good penmanship, very neat cursive (I don't remember seeing alot of printing from them - funny thing is I could never forge my parents writing, but easily forge both my brothers handwriting

[Joe Iliff]

I print... everything.

Me too. I don't know that I know how to write in cursive anymore, it's been so long.