Today’s completely non-corporation-related question: when printing with a pen or pencil do you “cross” your Z or 7? Although I was never taught to do this, at some point in the murky past I started to unconsciously cross both, something I wasn’t really aware of until G. pointed it out this morning.
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This was a question on
This was a question on Jeopardy last night, and the indication was that Europeans tend to cross their 7’s, whereas North Americans don’t.
What about zeroes? I cross
What about zeroes? I cross them too.
I cross my 7’s (as taught in
I cross my 7’s (as taught in engineering school) but not my z’s.
Neither, but sometimes zeroes
Neither, but sometimes zeroes if there is ambiguity between them and the letter “O”. I also make my ones, letter l’s, and sevens distinctly different so there is no ambiguity.
7, yes. Z, no.
7, yes. Z, no.
I still cross my zeros. I
I still cross my zeros. I only cross my Z’s when I write it too curvy, and it looks like a 2.
7’s always, Z’s and zeroes
7’s always, Z’s and zeroes sometimes (30-50% ?)
Do you make 8’s by making 2 balls or one, long “figure 8 shape”?
I cross my 7s, but not my Zs.
I cross my 7s, but not my Zs.
@jypsy I split my 8s — half
@jypsy I split my 8s — half the time a figure 8, and half the time 2 balls.
7’s but not z’s. I picked it
7’s but not z’s. I picked it up when I lived in Paris for two years and have done it ever since.
7 and 0 sometimes…depends on
7 and 0 sometimes…depends on my “writing mood”. Z never…
I went to a Euro school and
I went to a Euro school and learned to cross my sevens.
Didn’t cross 7 until a few
Didn’t cross 7 until a few years back, but now always since people sometimes confused it with 1. Z remains uncrossed by me for now.
Here’s another one. How do you write 1? One line, one line with small roof, one line with small roof and bottom serif, or one line with a very big roof (almost an upside-down V). I vary a lot between the three first variants. The upside-down V seems to be continental Europe, but don’t know how widespread it is.
@jonas I switch back and
@jonas I switch back and forth between the “one line with small roof and bottom serif” and “one line” method for printing a 1.
Just realized that I also
Just realized that I also write my “small a” typographically — i.e. not just “circle plus line” but “with left-point branch off the top.”
It’s becoming obvious that handwriting needs its own choreographic language.
I was taught to cross my 7s
I was taught to cross my 7s and Zs in my 8th grade algebra class in Spokane, WA.
I don’t recall being taught
I don’t recall being taught to cross my 7’s or z’s, but I always do both - just to make sure they don’t get confused in my handwriting. I think I started doing so because I had European penpals as a child and loved how their handwriting looked.
When addressing envelopes, I also tend to cap my 1’s and cross 0’s so there is no confusion.
Check 10 Commandments.People
Check 10 Commandments.
People who do not agree with 7 - cross it
Thats all
Any ideas about Z?
i cross my z’s if i’m doing
i cross my z’s if i’m doing math so as not to confuse them with 2’s. i cross my 7s if i am writing mostly words (though i’m less sure as to why). zeros, for me, are crossed rarely, for stylistic purposes.
I cross my 7s so that I don’t
I cross my 7s so that I don’t get confused with the number 1
I cross my Zs so that I don’t get confused with the number 2
I don’t cross my 0s
I’ve crossed both my 7’s and
I’ve crossed both my 7’s and Z’s since grade school, I remember it being mentioned and myself thinking it was the most logical way to write, nowadays it’s automatic and generally understood so I don’t question it. I’ll only cross 0’s if there’s good reason to (a variable o, O) though I subconsciously nag myself about consistency when I do :p
Wow ditto on the lowercase A
Wow ditto on the lowercase A too.. to me the standard ‘a’ seems more like cursive than print
I do cross my Zs and sevens
I do cross my Zs and sevens because my mom does and I used to slash my zeroes until my math teacher from Denmark got it confused with the Danish letter Ø.
So, how can I type these
So, how can I type these two characters, Z’s and 7’s with a bar across the horizontal, on my computer?
When I was younger I did not
When I was younger I did not cross anything, but people misread me, so at first I started crossing Z, then crossing 0, then crossing 7. Another one that I do and I’m surprised nobody has mentioned it, is crossing my V. V was getting misread as U and vice-versa; more than once someone read it wrong and I ended up getting the wrong part. I saw a friend of mine crossing his Vs about 15 years ago, I picked it up and I have not gone back.
Sometimes people ask what that character is; I tell them and they agree it makes sense
I started to cross my 7s
I started to cross my 7s because in my handwriting, and because I do ledger work, my 2s and my 7s look incredibly similar (my 7s tend to have a tail). Never really had a problem with letters that needed fixing.
I cross 7s and Zs and I slash
I cross 7s and Zs and I slash 0s. Does anyone know of a font face that has cross's and slash's?
Baltica font has a crossed 7
Baltica font has a crossed 7 (but not Z or 0).
Always cross the 7 and always
Always cross the 7 and always use the base and head of the 1. Don't cross 0. I was taught this way by my French-Canadian and Irish mother. And my a, whether cursive or printed, is never without its top!
I don't care if you went to a
I don't care if you went to a school, in Europe or not, I did a MAN's job, in the military in Germany, and Italy where to avoid confusion over hand written orders the 7's were crossed to avoid confusion with the European 1, that's hand-written in 'serif' style, with a 'lower lip' and the '0 - ZERO' was with a \ through it.
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