Just what exactly does this cursive word say?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the interpretation of a cursive word written by a participant, with various opinions on what the word says. Participants explore the ambiguity of cursive handwriting, debating the legibility and potential meanings of the word in question.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that the word could be interpreted as "love," while others suggest it might also represent "force" or "foul."
  • A participant claims that their original intention was for the word to be "force," challenging the interpretations of others.
  • Several participants express skepticism about the clarity of the cursive writing, with some arguing that the first letter does not resemble an 'f' and could be mistaken for other letters like 'l' or 'b.'
  • One participant mentions that the ambiguity of the handwriting could lead to various interpretations, including "louie" or "lorca."
  • There are disagreements about the quality of the handwriting, with some participants criticizing it as poor and others defending it as a valid representation of cursive.
  • Participants engage in a light-hearted debate about the implications of the handwriting on academic performance, particularly in physics exams.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the interpretation of the cursive word, with multiple competing views remaining about its meaning and the quality of the handwriting.

Contextual Notes

Some participants note that the interpretation of cursive handwriting can vary significantly based on individual familiarity with cursive styles, leading to differing opinions on what the letters represent.

BicycleTree
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Love?

What else could it look like?
 
It says you need to work on your penmanship if you have to ask us what your own writing says. :-p
 
brewnog said:
Love?

What else could it look like?
Look closer! It can be 3 words. In white:

Foul
Force
Love
[/color]
 
I don't see the ambiguity, I'm pretty sure that most people would agree that it says "love". Out of context, I think that quite a bit of imagination is needed to see the other two, no?
 
Not really. When I actually first wrote the word, it was "force."
 
I see the other letters but not the 'f'. It isn't connected and doesn't extend below the base line. I think it could be an 'l' or 'b'. If you're going to stretch it, that 'o' could be a very sloppy 'a', giving 'lace' and 'face'.
 
it is not an 'f'
 
yomamma said:
it is not an 'f'
By extrapolating the first letter below that baseline, I did manage to come up with 'force' and 'foul'. It took a long time to think of doing that, though.
 
  • #12
do you know what a cursive 'F' looks like?

to help you learn cursive:

fcrsvlcAn.gif
 
  • #13
Ooh, we should get a hand-writing analyst in here. :biggrin: That's still a sorry excuse for an F. I only saw "love" as well, but knew that couldn't be what the word really was based on your question. This is why we make students type everything now; it used to be very painful grading hand-written assignments due to poor penmanship.
 
  • #14
Haha, I thought my cursive was atrocious (which I gave up because so many teachers teased me about it), and even I can't see an 'f.' If anything, it's an 'l,' maybe a 'b.' Seriously, how can you put up with your writing if even you can find three ambiguities? For the past year I've been writing in print, and although it's like starting where I left off in third grade, people can atleast read what I write.
 
  • #15
Now you are being twits.

The first letter of the new image could easily pass for an f. There is an inward bump, which anyone who writes or reads a lot of hastily-written cursive understands is enough for a cusp. You are stupidly nitpicking when you could be basking in the sun of the glorious four-and-five-letter double-ambiguity.
 
  • #16
And, you know, it almost says louie. It's so close to saying louie.
 
  • #17
The second example could be a "b" but an "f" is stretching it.
 
  • #18
BicycleTree: Even though I've written in cursive for about eleven years, I couldn't see an 'f' there, and I still barely can after you tell me. You need to drag you bottom cusp farther down, and I'm not nitpicking--it's what distinguishes a 'b' between an 'f.' And I'm not a "twit" because I think that either.
 
  • #19
For the sake of creativity, I guess we can imagine it's a 'f' though. (Even though it's not.)
 
  • #20
BicycleTree said:
Now you are being twits.

The first letter of the new image could easily pass for an f. There is an inward bump, which anyone who writes or reads a lot of hastily-written cursive understands is enough for a cusp. You are stupidly nitpicking when you could be basking in the sun of the glorious four-and-five-letter double-ambiguity.
If you don't want your handwriting nitpicked, don't post it in a thread about the ambiguities of your handwriting. Nobody is being a twit for elaborating on what you yourself pointed out...the handwriting is ambiguous. A lowercase f, in cursive, has a loop below the baseline, your loop stops right at the baseline. That's a lowercase b at best.

Do you have trouble re-reading your notes when you go back to them? If not, then you can read your own writing well enough for note-taking, so that's fine. If even you can't read it, then you need to change something. When you have to write for someone else (i.e., on an exam), I suggest either printing or working on your penmanship so it will be legible to others, otherwise they're going to want to know why your physics exams are covered with love notes. :-p
 
  • #21
Moonbear said:
they're going to want to know why your physics exams are covered with love notes. :-p

There's a perfectly good reason for that...
 
  • #22
brewnog said:
There's a perfectly good reason for that...
Well, I would completely understand if I was the physics professor, but considering most I've run into are balding, middle-aged men, they aren't usually getting love notes from their students. :-p
 
  • #24
Bovce? What does Bovce mean?!
 
  • #25
It could also be "lorca", as in F. G. Lorca, the poet.
 
  • #26
Haha, that's more like an f.
 
  • #27
When I first looked I thought it was love. But after you saying it was "force" I can see that too. Still that is some terrible cursive; however, after trying to write it in cursive myself I can see why it looks so terrible. Who writes in strictly cursive anyway?
 
  • #28
but now there's no 'L'
 
  • #29
  • #30
Bad handwriting is hard to read. I knew that before I came in here...
 

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