Q for all the well educated PSers out there...

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Yes I can (and very well as a matter of fact!)

I write all my cards, etc. in cursive.

 

[jet2ks]

Date: 3/4/2010 11:09:12 AM
Author: Karl_K
ummmm yes
Can everyone read it.... ummm no
Can I read it? .... ummm sometimes....

This would be me, too. My handwriting has always been atrocious, even in grade school, when we weren''t using computers. The crazy part is that I do calligraphy and like MP have done enough drafting that block lettering is precise and easy. Any more I only use cursive in signatures and no one can read that.

 

[poptart]

I LOVE writing in cursive and also do calligraphy!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

I can, but I don''t love how it looks. I''ve always had very straight up-and-down penmanship that is not very attractive in cursive.

My Mother and Grandmother both write in the most beautiful cursive, though.

 

[luckynumber]

yes, but then i''m also a pretty good calligrapher (though not pro!)

i don''t tell people, or everyone gets me to write their wedding invitations for free!!!

 

[Kaleigh]

I write cards and letters in cursive. I think it looks pretty.

 

[oddoneout]

I stopped using cursive when people kept complaining they couldn''t read it.

 

[Lew Lew]

Yes, I learned how to write in cursive. I, too, was educated in a pre-personal computer and pre-cell phone era. When I went to college (and I went to one well-respected in the engineering area), e-mail was JUST starting to be used.

I write in a combo of print/cursive. When I sign checks, or letters, or anything else "official", my signature is in cursive.

Date: 3/4/2010 11:07:06 AM
Author: Samantha Red
Here in the UK we refer to it as joined up writing.

Interesting! I read all the Harry Potter books, and I remember in one of them that Gilderoy Lockhart was so proud that he learned "joined up writing". When I read that, I thought that he had "made up" that phrase. I didn''t realize that that is what it is called in the UK.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Absolutely! It''s my writing of choice, I hate printing!

 

[bee*]

Yep, we were only allowed to write in cursive in primary and secondary school. I only started typing out reports in college.

ETA-we call it joined writing in Ireland as well.

 

[kittybean]

I can write very nicely in cursive and can also do some amateur calligraphy, but I print everything. I have very, very neat print handwriting. It''s kind of girly, but not bubbly--no hearts dotting i''s, for example. People tell me it''s as easy to read as a printed book. I like to be able to look at what I''ve written and immeditately know what it says. I can''t fathom not being able to easily read my own writing--it would drive a perfectionist like me batty.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 3/4/2010 4:23:09 PM
Author: Lew Lew
Yes, I learned how to write in cursive. I, too, was educated in a pre-personal computer and pre-cell phone era. When I went to college (and I went to one well-respected in the engineering area), e-mail was JUST starting to be used.


I write in a combo of print/cursive. When I sign checks, or letters, or anything else ''official'', my signature is in cursive.

Date: 3/4/2010 11:07:06 AM

Author: Samantha Red

Here in the UK we refer to it as joined up writing.

Interesting! I read all the Harry Potter books, and I remember in one of them that Gilderoy Lockhart was so proud that he learned ''joined up writing''. When I read that, I thought that he had ''made up'' that phrase. I didn''t realize that that is what it is called in the UK.

I''ve been meaning to look up that phrase ever since I read HP the first time! So he learned how to write in cursive! I see now!

 

[Rachel9]

Yes, it was a requirement for all entering 3rd grade. It helped me learn other alphabets [arabic/urdu] enormously.

 

[zoebartlett]

I CAN if I try really hard, but some letters always trip me up (specifically,capital G, D, F). I''ve actually practiced at times during meetings when I''m bored, and it looks like a kid did it. Luckily I''ve never needed to teach it; if I ever do, I''ll need to practice A LOT. I think I write in a combination of printing and cursive, but I know my cursive is probably wonky.

For some reason, I still remember learning the letter "r" in 4th grade. My teacher taught us to pretend that we were sitting a ball on the top of the "r." I guess the ball should have sat on top of the little dip that the "r" is supposed to have. I have no idea why I remember that!

 

[rierie26]

Yup. We had to have cursive classes in elementary school. I always did really poorly because my cursive was terrible. Still is.

 

[Hera]

My cursive is lovely

My architectural writing is horrible though

and I think it''s because of the slant I have in cursive. I can''t seem to break it!

 

[Dreamer_D]

I think only old fogies care about cursive anymore

At one point in time I bet people complained about how calligraphy was going out the window with the invention of the new fangled pen. And before that it was complaints about no one using illuminated letters in their writing. And before that people complained about the loss of the tablet and the fine art of hitting a chisel with a mallet.

 

[Burberrygirl]

Yes, I can write in cursive. I don''t use it often but my cursive is very pretty. I''m 19, in college, and I went to public schools Oh, and I can read an analog clock just fine. We weren''t allowed to use our cell phones in school and all the clocks were analog.

 

[Haven]

You''re so right, DD!

I can write in cursive, but I print much better. Actually, I write in a hybrid style, really. People often tell me they love my handwriting, which I always find funny because it just looks like my plain old sloppy handwriting to me.

I''ve been teaching myself calligraphy for some time, but I''m not very good yet. My mother is amazing at it, and she taught herself, so that keeps me going . . .

 

[vc10um]

Date: 3/4/2010 10:30:15 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
Yes, I learned how in the second grade. However the cursive I learned is not the beautiful penmanship my mother, father and grandparents have. Their handwriting is gorgeous and I''ve always been really envious of it. My day-to-day handwriting is now a mix of cursive and standard writing.

This, exactly.

I envy my mother''s penmanship...it''s just lovely.

My day to day handwriting is a mix...sometimes the letters connect, sometimes they don''t.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/4/2010 2:43:25 PM
Author: Round Halo Lover
Hi DF,

Am I well educated?.....Yes, I am Dr. RHL.

Can I write in cursive.....Yes, I can.

Do I write in cursive?...Nope, it looks too untidy and no-one can read it!!!!

very normal,no one can read a Dr''s handwriting.

 

[kama_s]

Date: 3/4/2010 3:00:49 PM
Author: yssie

Date: 3/4/2010 10:44:47 AM
Author: sbde
yes! we were forced to write using ink pens in my school because ballpoints were the death of beautiful penmanship according to my teachers.

+1.

Likewise. And I think we were on pencils until Grade 5 or 6? And only ink pens after that.

I used to do calligraphy for my high school in Grades 11 and 12 - write out their certificates etc. Lost most of it. Now I mostly do a 50-50 cursive and print.

DF, I bet you have the most squiggliest, messy cursive writing ever

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/4/2010 6:17:27 PM
Author: Haven
You''re so right, DD!

I can write in cursive, but I print much better. Actually, I write in a hybrid style, really. People often tell me they love my handwriting, which I always find funny because it just looks like my plain old sloppy handwriting to me.

I''ve been teaching myself calligraphy for some time, but I''m not very good yet. My mother is amazing at it, and she taught herself, so that keeps me going . . .

Haven
being a teacher you better know how to write in cursive!!.

 

[MakingTheGrade]

I can write in cursive.
In fact, I can write in calligraphy (I did a lot of the calligraphy for my own wedding).

But I almost never do because I don''t think cursive is appropriate for medical notes, it just seems weird to write "patient had 3 bowel movements and passed gas" in beautiful, flowing penmanship.

I do however sign my name in near eligible cursive, which is something I learned from an old art class teacher who said that you should always have a distinctive signature that no one can easily forge

Turns out that''s not bad advice for a doctor either.

 

[Imdanny]

I graduated from one of the most selective colleges in the US and I can''t write in cursive (well I can, but you wouldn''t be able to read it).

My grandmother wrote in cursive beautifully. People in the 18th century wrote in cursive beautifully. Don''t you think it is mainly a matter of having other technologies available rather than whether a person is "educated"?

It''s a dying art that will have to be and will be kept alive for its own sake. On a brighter note, you''ll have a lot to be peeved about for a long time.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Date: 3/4/2010 6:38:41 PM
Author: kama_s

DF, I bet you have the most squiggliest, messy cursive writing ever

not 35 yrs ago

infact, i had always wrote in cursive back then,and yes my vocabularies,grammers and spellings were much better in those days.

what''s amazing to me are the people whom criticize other''s grammers and yet their the ones whom can''t write in cursive.

IMO...knowing how to write in cursive is a very important part of the English language.

btw; you can go ahead and criticize my grammer/spelling,cuz i don''t give a S**T!!

it doesn''t bother me at all!!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 3/4/2010 12:22:52 PM
Author: cara

Date: 3/4/2010 11:09:12 AM

Author: Karl_K

ummmm yes


Can everyone read it.... ummm no


Can I read it? .... ummm sometimes....

Haha ditto this.


No actually while I *can* write cursive I don''t. Except on checks for some reason. Those ancient paper money-transferring slips. Otherwise I never got in the habit of writing in cursive. While I did turn in some typed papers in middle and high school (and even one monster assignment in elementary school!), my pre-college work was still mostly handwritten and I printed everything - it was faster and neater and then it was self-perpetuating: cursive gets slower and printing gets faster. I graduated college a decade ago, and by then all my essays or paragraph-answer-type assignments were typed unless they were part of an in-class exam, though anything with math or calculations in it was usually handwritten.


But now I find that even my printing is suffering because I don''t use it enough. And I just finished grad school last year. I can''t take notes fast or neat enough when I go to lectures - my hands are out of practice. But I type pretty well now, and that''s mostly from doing it all the time rather than any class I took.

I relate to this last paragraph totally - my handwriting had turned to spit and my typing excelled - then when I learned that darned d''nealian that I keep saying I hate and seem to keep touting instead, my handwriting got much nicer.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 3/4/2010 1:37:15 PM
Author: Maisie
Well I mustn''t be an educated PS''er because I didn''t even know what it was till Samantha Red explained what it is. I don''t used joined up letters but I do write in italic form. Is that almost the same thing?

italics is like the d''nealian thing I keep talking about... curses! lol

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 3/4/2010 1:48:21 PM
Author: Strawdermangrl

Date: 3/4/2010 10:20:57 AM

Author:Dancing Fire

can you write in CURSIVE? be honest now!!

ever since the computer age i have noticed many young well educated student with a college diploma whom can''t or know how to write in cursive,b/c all of their school reports,home works were typed up on a computer.

now,that''s a pet peeve of mine!!. how the hell they graduated from college?

Also, how does anyone learn how to spell!? With spell check and auto grammar correction, who needs to have any sense of eloquence!? Off the soapbox...

You know - I was never a good speller and it wasn''t until I got a computer that I began to improve. The squiggly red line is feedback. Sure you could ignore the opportunity to learn, but I always took that feedback as a chance to think about it. My spelling may still not be great, but it is better than ever BECAUSE of spell check.

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 3/4/2010 1:41:45 PM
Author: Cind11
I do write in cursive if I am writing thank you notes or something like that. I used to write letters years ago and wrote all of them in cursive. My daughters who are 15 and 17 think cursive is weird and never write in it. If they have to write a thank you note, they would print it. I think it''s actually kind of sad. Another ''nicety'' pretty much gone.

I think as someone else mentioned, it is an art. But as a communication tool it is less efficient than other forms by and large.

When I write for pleasure, I have a heck of a time deciding whether to write in print or in type. I can type as fast as my head can come up with ideas, but on paper I can draw arrows and add things in the margin that typing is far too rigid to do. When I write poetry I use paper but my writing is horrible shorthand to get it out so fast.

Writing a letter long hand is T-D-US if you have a lot to say that you don''t want to get jumbled up into a knot.