Questions tagged [typography]
The style and appearance of printed matter. The art or procedure of arranging type.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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)
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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".
...
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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 ...
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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, "-...
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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 ...
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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?
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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? ...
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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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“She´s happy” vs “She's happy” vs “She’s happy” vs ...?
I’ve always wondered what the correct apostrophe is when using contractions. Should I use She´s happy or She's happy?
English´s a universal language.
English's a universal language.
Why do a lot of ...
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Need to learn to write by hand more neat and fast [closed]
I searched the internet for tips for writing both fast and neat for exams but only found a few tips on the internet, so I came here looking if anyone had any trade secrets they may be able to share.
...
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What is the accepted typography for latin phrases? [duplicate]
In an academic article, i'm using a lot of latin phrases both abbreviated (i.e., e.g., etc.) and spelt out (de facto, in situ...). I know that in certain languages, the most commonly accepted form is ...
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Recommended way to format copyright?
I'm working on a website and want to have a short mention of the copyright of said website in its footer. What is the recommended formatting for such a thing?
I've seen "© YYYY Company", "© Company, ...
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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 ...
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Is there a formal word for when one or more words line up, but are on different lines?
Not entirely sure if this is the best place to ask, but I've always wondered if there is actually a word for this. In the image below, the words "this is" line up. Sometimes this happens when I'm ...
user379146
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Can I put a line break between "von" and "Neumann"?
I'm working on a project that discusses John von Neumann. Is it okay to line-break between "von" and "Neumann," or should I specify this as a non-breaking space?
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Do I need to use quotes when referring to something? [closed]
Do I need to use quotes here?
You can find those terms under the separate section called “Earthquakes” later in this chapter.
If no quotes are needed, must the word Earthquake still start with a ...
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Wrong letter cases
When someone writes a title with the wrong letter cases ex: "my Title", is this considered a typo? If not, what is the name of this error?
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Should we superscript ordinal numbers? [closed]
I have noticed that sometimes we write ordinal numbers with the "th" a little higher than the numbers. But sometimes I see it just attached to it. Which one is correct?
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What is the numerals style that goes above/below the standard height called, and is there a historic reason behind it?
It's often found on Wikipedia in the titles of articles, and here on this site:
1916
In the example above (if it doesn't render correctly, say you're on mobile, see image below), the 9's tail goes ...
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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 ...
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Which part is the tail of the letter "r"?
I'd like to ask about the sentence from A Case of Identity by Conan Doyle.
"a slight defect in the tail of the ‘r.’ "
Which part is the tail of "r"?
A: The lower part of the straight line of "r".
...
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Which is a more common way, 10+ or 10 then + as superscript?
I don't know which shortened form of "10 or more" is more appropriate, is it 10+ or 10+ (i.e. with the plus sign as superscript). What do you think?
Extra question, when do we use superscript in ...
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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 ...
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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?
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Pilcrow question
Is there a difference between a shaded and an unshaded pilcrow? I am trying to format a block letter and in the unarranged copy, I am supposed to correct- there are both unshaded and shaded pilcrows.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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When should terms be italicized versus put in quotes?
When a new term is introduced in a book I am writing or an unusual word or phrase is described I either italicize it, or put it in quotes. However, this has led to an inconsistency in which some terms ...
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Ligatured glyphs vs. Words
When two letters are joined as a ligature, I understand they are considered
to be one individual glyph. I also understand that letters on their own like D
or S are considered nouns or ...
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A word for the circular guides that determine the curve of font serifs?
Serif fonts are usually constructed using circular guides to establish the curves of the serifs.
Example:
Is there a word for these circles?
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If a speaker clearly emphasizes a word or a term, should it be written down in quotation marks?
If a speaker clearly emphasizes a word or a term, should it be written down in quotation marks?
e.g. Everyone's so intimidated by "big data."
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Does it need quotation marks on abstract nouns
I know for sure it needs quotation marks on verbs do, love and etc, in following sentence:
Human related actions like "do", "love", "hate", "sacrifice", and so on.
Because it would not be right ...
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Opening and closing a letter - is there a name for this style?
Sorry if this isn’t the right place for this question, but I’ve Googled high and low and found nothing.
I’ve noticed that some letters start and close with handwriting, e.g. “Dear Mrs Smith” and “...
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Is "well" an adjective?
I read a Cambridge advanced grammar in use and there's one line says We can use sufficiently before adjectives to express a similar meaning to enough. Sufficiently is often preferred in more formal ...
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Is there a name for text that reads the same upside-down? [duplicate]
This is similar to a palindrome but, instead of a word/sentence that reads the same forwards and backward, is there a word for words/sentences that read the same right side up and upside-down?
See ...
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Is there a word for when a logo uses an image for one of the letters?
There's a million examples of this, but the one that comes to mind is "smoke shop" with images of pipes in place of the "S"s, like this:
Is there a word for this?
Edit, September 26, 2018
Thanks, @...
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A word for decorations added to letters
Is there a word for the artistic decorations that are often added to letters in some type-faces / fonts (e.g. caligraphy, etc.)
I'm thinking like a serif, but as far as I know, (I'm open to ...
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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 ...
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Is "to battle (something) off" correct?
In the passage Lesson 13 from "400 Must-have words for the TOELF" by McGraw-Hill, there is a sentence that I don't understand.
"According to legend, his arrogance invoked the wrath of God, who ...
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Quotation marks around a new word when I keep using the word?
I'm writing a technical thesis and I need to explain the meaning of a lot of words. However I'm not a native English speaker.
The so-called "blah" is a thing that does this and that.
Blah was an ...
user303213
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What is the category/group for the typographical terms serif and sans-serif
I teach introductory typography to students studying graphic design.
While constructing a list of design factors that affect the appearance, readability, and legibility of a typographic letterform, ...
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