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I remember seeing such a word before, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I'm googling and having no luck.

The classic web comic Pokey the Penguin used this technique quite a bit.

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  • 3
    Several terms spring to mind upon viewing the "typography" in Pokey the Penguin. Poor and juvenile seem the most useful.
    – Fortiter
    Jan 7, 2013 at 23:30
  • 4
    I thought I read somewhere that that was the "lawler weight" ;^)
    – J.R.
    Jan 7, 2013 at 23:53
  • 1
    All styles on the same word or in the same sentence? Jan 8, 2013 at 5:15
  • Either one, I suppose. I'm thinking there's a word for the technique of applying all three styles simultaneously.
    – DeeDee
    Jan 8, 2013 at 5:19
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    I'd call it "too bad" or "too much". Possibly "unfortunate".
    – Charles
    Jan 8, 2013 at 6:46

2 Answers 2

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Bold and italic and underline are all examples of typographical emphasis. Others include (but are not limited to) strikethrough, overlining, changed font and size, capitalisation and letter spacing.

Although bold, italic and underline are the most common, they are not often used in combination, so I don't think there's a special word or phrase for it.

You could refer to it as triple emphasis, or if you need precision, stick with bold, italic and underline.

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I'm not sure about the italicized part, but this source calls the kind of balloon and bold and underlined words used to indicate screaming dialogue a burst balloon (in contrast to a radio balloon for more normal dialogue): enter image description here

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  • Very cool info, but not quite what I had in mind. Thanks!
    – DeeDee
    Jan 8, 2013 at 1:47
  • That simply describes the shape (and meaning) of the balloon, not the emphasis on the font. Note that it even says the balloons are not italicized.
    – Charles
    Jan 8, 2013 at 6:45
  • @Charles, Yep...I think I said that. I just gave the OP a resource to look over.
    – JLG
    Jan 8, 2013 at 13:07

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