Questions tagged [typography]

The style and appearance of printed matter. The art or procedure of arranging type.

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17 votes
7 answers
25k views

Is there an alternative, one-word name for the question mark?

Is there an alternative name for the question mark? For example, the exclamation point is often called a bang, the number symbol is an octothorpe and is often referred to as a pound sign, sharp ...
28 votes
3 answers
191k views

“20th century” vs. “20ᵗʰ century”

When writing twentieth century using an ordinal numeral, should the th part be in superscript? 20th century 20th century
15 votes
6 answers
3k views

During what period of history did English use “ß”, the “sharp s” ligature?

The ß glyph is a lowercase letter that represents a ligature between a long s (ſ) and a round s, and is still used today in (some versions of) German. Its uppercase equivalent is two characters ...
4 votes
2 answers
3k views

Bold type and commas [closed]

This is a bold statement, but this is normal. The first clause is written in bold. Should the comma be bold or not?
-1 votes
2 answers
96 views

Nested quotations & internal commas: an edge case

Which of the following would be best practice, and why and according to whom? Alice says, “Bob said, ‘Hello’ ” and she smiles at the memory. Alice says, “Bob said, ‘Hello’, ” and she smiles at the ...
19 votes
4 answers
4k views

Why does English use the French "sans" for sans serif?

Is it because France had impactful printers and typecutters like the Garamonds and Jensons in the Renaissance? Or is it about being elegant and “Frenchified” when talking about something as peculiar ...
3 votes
3 answers
547 views

What is the equivalent of "euphony" when applied to writing?

In the details below, I use something to stand in for the word I am looking for. Speech may have euphony; writing may have something. For example, when writing about the relative sizes of items, I ...
24 votes
5 answers
52k views

Moving the lower case ‘c’ up flush with the ‘M’ in the last name MᶜNeil?

Regarding names like McNeil or McDonald and such, twice recently I have been asked to move the lowercase c up so that the top of the lowercase letter aligns up with tops of the other two uppercase ...
8 votes
3 answers
3k views

Should thin spaces be used between numerals and units? [closed]

After starting to use the siunitx package for typesetting units (and the numerals before the units) in LaTeX, I noticed that it typesets a single space between a numeral and a unit (a space that is ...
3 votes
2 answers
636 views

Word for using extra line breaks to improve readability

I just got a copy of Royal Skousen's The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text (Yale, 2009), and was immediately struck by his implementation of what he calls "sense-lines": that is, the editor ...
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Why does "s" have different forms?

Why does "s" in the Bath Old English Gospels (p. 10) have different forms? soþlice se steorra and, lo, the star (Matthew 2:9)
0 votes
1 answer
46 views

Which dash to use in citations while writing "number"? [duplicate]

Consider the following citation: Dasgupta, P. (1992). Pronominality and deixis in Bangla. Linguistic analysis, 22(1–2). This represents 22nd volume of the concerned journal and 1–2 number. I am ...
1 vote
3 answers
21k views

Appropriate punctuation for removing letters in offensive words

Letters in offensive words are often removed to make words less offensive, like f----ed, or n-gger. (Though this isn't just for offensive words—see G-d). What is the best typographic punctuation for ...
-1 votes
1 answer
8k views

use '/\' to denote that one missed something while writing

I have seen many people use '/\' to denote that they missed something while writing the sentence. Then, above that symbol they write what they missed. Are you aware of this practice? Let's say, I am ...
3 votes
1 answer
33k views

Using bold or italic text in quotes

If the text I am quoting is italicised or bold, does my quote need to include this special font treatment? If I want to emphasise something in the quote, can I make words italic? For example, ...
29 votes
2 answers
4k views

Word for how the white space between words can form patterns

Nota Bene: I included a term to describe this thing, but I'm not here to invent a word, it was included as a humorous nod; thank you for your patience and understanding! I apologize if this is an odd ...
21 votes
5 answers
54k views

When a dagger is used to indicate a note, must it come after an asterisk?

The typographical symbol dagger (†) has several meanings. Possibly its most common use is as a footnote marker. According to You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies (...
2 votes
1 answer
844 views

Why is the right single quotation mark used as the apostrophe?

I think that quotation marks are for quoting, and the apostrophe is used for its own things. But it is often suggested that the right single quotation mark (’) should be used instead of the apostrophe ...
15 votes
4 answers
661 views

When did punctuation marks lose their associated spaces?

This is from a 1951 edition of Kipling’s Kim. I’m fascinated by the punctuation conventions used: quotation marks, exclamation and question marks, all with leading spaces; long punctuation dashes ...
11 votes
3 answers
22k views

How do you refer to letters of the alphabet?

If you're talking about a particular letter of the alphabet, how do you format it? Do you just write it? Do you put quotes around it? Do you italicize it? Do you just have to write it out? Does the ...
6 votes
3 answers
4k views

English Typography in the 17th Century

I was browsing through some very old English texts when I came across this page from The memoires of Sir James Melvil of Hal-hill, by George Scot (1683). The first thing that struck me was the anatomy ...
1 vote
1 answer
3k views

Correct spelling for the abbreviation "FPS" (frames per second) [duplicate]

Well-known game journalists TotalBiscuit and Jim Sterling use [the number of frames per second] fps instead of 30FPS or 30 FPS, without an intervening space between the units and the following units (...
17 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is the word “formulæ” valid English?

Is the word formulæ, written with an æ at the end, valid in English? I stumbled upon this apparently plural form of formula in the Wiktionary. I had no idea the letter æ could occur in English. Does ...
56 votes
5 answers
12k views

When should I not use a ligature in English typesetting?

Typesetting that goes beyond the scope of basic MS Word (e.g. LaTeX, or even modern Word versions with a good OpenType font) often uses ligatures for certain glyph combinations, the most common being ...
24 votes
4 answers
6k views

Is there any significance in little curls joining the st and ct in old books?

I've been reading a facsimile edition of Defoe's Captain Singleton and have noticed a little quirk of the text; where an st or a ct appear, they are joined with a little curl over the top, but nt, rt ...
7 votes
2 answers
6k views

In Britain, which is more common — the em dash or the en dash?

I'm reasonably certain the em dash is more common than the en dash in American publications. But which of the two is more common in British publications?
0 votes
1 answer
421 views

What was the reversed Pilcrow used for?

I am doing some research about pilcrows. I am intrigued by the reversed pilcrow and have been trying to uncover its origin. Any google search however only yields results for the normal pilcrow. I ...
5 votes
1 answer
782 views

What is the symbol connecting the letters "c" and "t" called, and when did it go out of style?

I have become so used to the long 's' that I read it as quickly as if they were the standard short 's', but it took me awhile to stop seeing them as 'f's. Luckily the "ct" connection thing ...
0 votes
1 answer
62 views

Old typographical symbol for Scots pound

I came across this typographical symbol in a book from the late 1800s that I am digitizing, where it is used as a symbol for the old (pre 1700) Scottish pound. My question - does it have a name? An ...
2 votes
1 answer
152 views

Rule of thumb for hyphenation when justifying text? [duplicate]

I have typeset a text that is justified and thus requires hyphenation to maintain the column width appropriately. I was wondering if there is a rule of thumb for how words should be hyphenated? The ...
14 votes
8 answers
4k views

Why does English omit diacritics on foreign names?

Why does English omit diacritics from foreign names that still use the Latin alphabet? For example, why are the Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych, the Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø, or the Polish ...
1 vote
0 answers
110 views

Why are sub-subsections of the Irish constitution marked with the degree symbol? [closed]

The accepted legal practice when referring to sub-subsections of the Irish constitution is to use the degree symbol to mark sub-subsections. For example, Art 40.3.3°. This convention is not used for ...
2 votes
1 answer
227 views

Comma before 'if' in maths definition

I wonder if there is clear guidance about the following construction: We say that a foo admits a bar, if baz is quz. I feel that the comma before if breaks the structure of the sentence, and ...
7 votes
1 answer
27k views

Are software titles italicized?

The titles of freestanding works (books, movies, plays, albums, etc.) are italicized; smaller parts within these works (chapters in a book, articles in a magazine, songs within an album) are not (they ...
2 votes
0 answers
796 views

MLA: block quote following an indented first line of paragraph - must I 'double indent' the block?

I am writing a paper in MLA style, where the first line of each new paragraph is indented once. However, I wish to use a block quote on the second like of a paragraph, which must also be indented once ...
26 votes
6 answers
27k views

What Is the Real Name of the #?

I used to say "sharp sign" to refer to the # sign. Today a friend told me that the correct term is number sign or hash sign or even just hash. What is the difference between these options and what'...
0 votes
3 answers
320 views

What kind of error is using Women instead of Woman

An online argument. Guy says "You are looking for a women". Girl replies "talking all that sh*t with bad Grammar". Guy replies "Spelling is not a part of Grammar". ...
28 votes
5 answers
91k views

Should there be a space between name initials?

In writing authors' initials in research papers (either in the author by-line or the bibliography), should there be a space between intials? R.P. Feynman R. P. Feynman What's the preferred way of ...
2 votes
2 answers
98k views

When do you leave a space in a paragraph and when do you not?

I am not fully sure if this is the right place for this question but I am guessing has something to do with structure and usage so hopefully it is alright here. Apologies if not. I am getting ...
0 votes
1 answer
10k views

Should commas *always* be followed by spaces?

When teaching and proofreading, I often come across examples of commas without spaces following them (e.g. "London,UK" or "apples,oranges,bananas"). In addition to correcting these, I would like to ...
1 vote
1 answer
70 views

Indentation following a Zareba [closed]

Is there an indentation following a section break that indicates a time lapse? I know if you double-space in fiction to indicate a break in thought, there is no line indentation in the first line ...
0 votes
2 answers
632 views

Hyphenated Word Split Between Pages?

I am currently proofreading a typeset document that's automatically hyphenated "client" to justify a line. The bottom of one page has "cli-", and then, after a page turn, "-...
1 vote
1 answer
151 views

Are the size of tittles the same as the size of the full stop, or the dot in an exclamation mark? [closed]

As the title says: are the tittles the same size as the full stop, or the dots in an exclamation and question marks? If they are different, is there any reason for this?
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

History and usage of the term “furore”

Furore entered the English language by the end of the 18th century to refer to a “wave of enthusiastic admiration”: 1790, Italian form of furor, borrowed into English originally in the sense "...
8 votes
3 answers
30k views

Usage of italics in writing

In which cases is a word, or a group of words written in italics? Is italics used in specific contexts, or it is quite normal to write words in italics?
2 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is the usage of "the a priori" correct?

I have read here that there is no consensus about the usage of a priori as italic or not. However, increasingly it is used as non-italic. And here I read the following text: "In fact the a priori ...
22 votes
8 answers
11k views

How should foreign words (with foreign characters) be written in English text?

This question is not about italicisation or how to construct plurals. I wonder what are general guidelines for writing foreign words based on a Latin alphabet in English text. I know that, for ...
1 vote
0 answers
128 views

When should Latinisms be Italicized? [duplicate]

Some Latinisms are usually italicized in English whereas some Latin loanwords are not, even in the same text. However, I cannot find any clear pattern. Are there clear rules or guidelines about it? ...
58 votes
6 answers
61k views

What were the rules for capitalising nouns in the 17th and 18th centuries?

It seems to have been common practice in the 17th and 18th centuries in English-language sources to capitalise the first letters of nouns, as in At which Time he prov'd himself the Noah's Dove, that ...
2 votes
0 answers
161 views

What is the name of this squiggle symbol? [closed]

I came across a strange symbol while reading the report on the ALGOL 58 programming language (p. 19): I am referring to the squiggle that appears repeated three times after some semicolons and commas ...

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