Anyone want to take a crack at my decyphering my prof's handwriting?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ainster31
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Crack
Click For Summary
The discussion revolves around the difficulties in deciphering a professor's handwriting, which is described as artful yet challenging to read. Participants analyze specific phrases from the handwriting, noting grammatical errors and peculiar letter formations, particularly the 't' and 'p'. There's speculation about the professor's background, with suggestions that her handwriting style may reflect her cultural or educational influences, possibly Romanian. The conversation shifts to broader themes about handwriting standards in education, with some expressing frustration over the legibility of professional writing, especially in academic settings. Concerns are raised about the implications of poor handwriting in critical situations, such as medical prescriptions, highlighting the importance of clear communication in professional roles. Overall, the thread combines humor with serious reflections on the impact of handwriting on understanding and communication.
  • #31
Hi I like Serena! :smile:
I like Serena said:
Don't forget the 'p' in "aspect"

i thought the "p" there was clear, it was the "a" that confused me for a short time, though i don't think even that would have mattered without …
… which was the word that took me the longest time, especially appearing with a grammatical mistake.

… the "is" instead of "does" :wink:

(so that's a mistake of grammar rather than of handwriting)
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #32
ainster31 said:
http://i.imgur.com/8rDPmxK.jpg

There is a question mark and closing bracket at the end that was cut off FYI.

Sorry for the large image. Not sure how to make it smaller.

Clearly, your prof is an elf! Awesome.

220px-Tengwar_sample.svg.png
 
  • #33
ainster31 said:
http://i.imgur.com/8rDPmxK.jpg

There is a question mark and closing bracket at the end that was cut off FYI.

Sorry for the large image. Not sure how to make it smaller.

This is my decipherment:

"I don't quite see an argument here; you need to think in terms of a specific point you're planning to make -- for ex.[ample], how is the visual (aspect?) affect (sic) our understanding of the novel (i.e. how is it different from a literary presentation?)"

There is one grammatical slip up; the instructor used 'is' instead of 'does' when she asks the student a question ('how is' rather than 'how does').

I once went to school with a guy who was Hungarian. IDK if he spent any time in Hungary (his parents were refugees, I think), but he made his K's in a very unusual manner (at least to what I had been taught): he would draw a vertical line from the top down, and then when he reached the line, he would make a 45-deg. upward stroke, after which he would draw the 45-deg. downward stroke to prop up the first part. But, handwriting is taught by different methods and different teachers.
 
  • #34
A google images search for "romanian handwriting" found this. Some of the letter shapes (e.g. q and t) look familiar...

AlexBotezatu--2010.jpg
 
  • Like
Likes 1 person
  • #35
AlephZero said:
A google images search for "romanian handwriting" found this. Some of the letter shapes (e.g. q and t) look familiar...

AlexBotezatu--2010.jpg
Hmm, it does look like she's using a flowery form of the Romanian alphabet to write English words. And she's being paid to teach English?
 
  • #36
No idea what is this "romanian alphabet", but I am absolutely sure it is not what they teach in schools in Romania. It is most likely just an ornamental typeface, never intended to be used in anything else but fancy leaflets or artsy books, and even then only in titles.
 
  • #37
Borek said:
No idea what is this "romanian alphabet", but I am absolutely sure it is not what they teach in schools in Romania. It is most likely just an ornamental typeface, never intended to be used in anything else but fancy leaflets or artsy books, and even then only in titles.
She's getting the weirdness from somewhere. I think the OP should ask where she learned to write. :devil:
 
  • #38
Evo said:
She's getting the weirdness from somewhere. I think the OP should ask where she learned to write. :devil:

I don't see anything weird about her handwriting. Could be that's because I am used to differences. Her writing looks pretty stable and well established. Mine is much more chaotic.
 
  • #39
One duty of a professor is to communicate effectively and clearly with their students. If any of this is done by means of hand written messages then the professor should take enough care to make the messages legible.
 
  • #40
Dadface said:
One duty of a professor is to communicate effectively and clearly with their students. If any of this is done by means of hand written messages then the professor should take enough care to make the messages legible.
Agreed, your students shouldn't have to struggle. Grow up and learn how to write professionally, you're not a teenager writing in your diary anymore. I think that when writing in any professional venue, you should strive to be legible, and if you can't write legibly, then type. There is a time and a place for self expression, this isn't it.
 
  • #41
Agreed that "romanian alphabet" is a bit artsy, but it was created by a Romanian.
Alex Botezatu. Illustrator and digital artist in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He created a script face in 2010.
http://luc.devroye.org/fonts-53781.html

The connection with McGill university in Canada may or may not be a conincidence...

The hooks on the top of the t's are strange. There were some ligatures in old letter forms (and some modern calligraphic fonts) that joined the top of the preceding letter to the top of the t for combinations like ct or st.

Somewhere, I've seen a cursive handwritten style where the t is connected to the previous letter by a stroke from the baseline to the top of the t, and the actual letter is just a vertical stroke. The whole thing looked rather like a modern European handwrtten digit 1, joined to the previous letter.

It also reminds me of a cursive greek theta ##\vartheta## - and Romania used the Cyrillic script at one time.

More research to be done, I think.
 
Last edited:
  • #42
I'm pretty sure that's "visual aspect", although the way the "s" flows into the "p" makes it look abhorrently like "azpect".
 
  • #43
the azpects were a very visual people …

it was the azpects who detected the aztecs, and inspected them o:)
 
  • #44
The curse of cursive writing. The purpose of language is to convey thoughts and information. That fundamental purpose has apparently been sacrificed in favor of making the language appear pretty.
Sure, we can't read what he wrote, but gosh darn it, those letters are nice and curly. And let's be honest, isn't that what really matters?
Evo said:
Lol, is this a warning of your handwriting? :-p

Drs must be trained to write poorly in med school, my pharmacist sometimes has to call the doctor to confirm what they've prescribed. Something as serious as a prescription for medication is not the time to demonstrate how poorly you can write, I've read of lawsuits where the pharmacist tried guessing at the dosage and guessed wrong. Just a couple of weeks ago I got the wrong prescription, (right medication, wrong form) the pharmacist said that they weren't sure what it said, I got a dental paste instead of a topical ointment for skin. He was so upset, even though it was the same medicine and same strength, one was a gel instead of a cream, that he drove out to my house to exchange the meds.

No need to take time to write legibly when something as trivial as someone's life is at stake.
 
  • #45
tiny-tim said:
the azpects were a very visual people …

it was the azpects who detected the aztecs, and inspected them o:)

:-p
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 48 ·
2
Replies
48
Views
1K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
4K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
3K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
3K
  • · Replies 36 ·
2
Replies
36
Views
14K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
5K
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
3K