Do you write cursive?

It was required of us in junior high school, as soon as I entered high school itself I dropped it like a hot potato.

We learned how to write in cursive in the third grade. The teachers were meticulous. I remember writing the letter "G" 100 times in a row.

We spent three weeks (two hours each afternoon) learning. Afterward, we were expected to write in cursive exclusively. Nothing could be turned in to the teachers with print writing on it.

The teachers wouldn't recognize my writing now. Sometimes my family doesn't either....

I write in cursive. A lot of younger people don't, so I guess its becoming an lost art.

A while ago OP, I bought up this very subject because I saw some bullshit Buzzfeed article about how Gen Z didn't know cursive.

I asked "how do you sign a check/document"? Yes I realize checks are a rare thing these days, but we all sign driver licenses, tax documents, loans, etc. and most responses (from younger posters) was that they blocked printed their names.

I was kind of horrified but ... how often are signatures verified these days?

I think it is kind of tacky to print you name like a five year old on a legal document, but I'm clearly in the minority (and I'm not that old - early 40's);.

I write in cursesive, you buggering bitch.

A signature on a check (and virtually every contract) isn't your 'name' really, it is legally a 'mark' that (ideally) can only be reproduced by yourself. Whether it is legible or not has nothing whatsoever to do if the check is negotiable or not, another common misconception. For example, my brother has this really remarkable signature that consists of dozens of mostly vertical lines- and yet he can reproduce it perfectly the exact same way every time. That is the ideal signature, because it is very difficult forge.

r7 Well, that's annoying. was supposed to link to subject:"Penmanship" sorted by texts from date published oldest to newest.

Why yes. I still use the Palmer method every day. Sometimes twice.

A few months ago, I attended my cousin's daughter's 10th birthday party. When she was opening gifts, she got to my present, opened the card inside and looked puzzled. When her mom asked who it was from, she replied, "I don't know. It's in cursive!" Me culpa. I never gave it much thought, but wow, it really is a lost art. We learned cursive in the 3rd or 4th grade, and I continue to write in cursive because it is so much faster than print/block lettering.

It’s a lost art.

My only artistic talent is my handwriting, on which I frequently receive compliments. Thank you, Mrs. Burns! (My fourth grade teacher.)

R4 Signatures are wild scribbles, not cursive.

I’m saying this because the Gen Z kids I work with all violently scribble their names like old people because they know that’s what a signature should look like.

Touch screen has destroyed the art of signatures.

[quote] how often are signatures verified these days?

Your signature is whatever you adopt. You can write X and adopt that as your signature, although it wouldn't be wise as it's easy to forge.

Here's a list of states that require cursive writing classes in school. Lots of southern states, including Florida.

I can do it...it's like riding a bike...but I write neater when I print. I used to have a kick ass hybrid print/cursive thing going on when I was younger but abandoned that for whatever reason. I print in all caps now, like my dad.

Very pretentious all letters from the decayed aunts and uncles go right to the bin. Sorry I can’t read this ancient language!

R4 Does a check need to be signed in cursive?

My mother’s handwriting is exquisite without being flourish-y and looks so much like her mother’s handwriting, it’s difficult to tell them apart.

Whenever I’d receive a card from either one, I’d feel special.

i prefer print bc it gives me breaks between each letter

with cursive, you have 2 link every letter, so no break and dull hand

The only things I use cursive for are cheques or contracts. If I have to write something, such as a note or a brief letter, I use block letters/print because I deal with people who may not be familiar with English cursive and therefore may find it difficult to read. But 99.9% of the time, I type, just like everyone else.

Weird/fun fact: My late mum and I had identical cursive writing. Impossible to tell apart.

Can't you use print on check or contracts? Is that an American thing?

Can one completely change their handwriting later in life (late 30s)? I don't like mine.

What about the forms where both a signature and printed name are required?

What are these forms everyone talking about? I signed my name in printed on all the documents/checks.

[quote]I signed my name in printed on all the documents/checks.

sad

R28 Why?

I still write in cursive. I love it. I was taught by nuns in Catholic school. Everyone always comments that the can tell I went to Catholic school when they see my handwriting.

Happy to report they taught us how to write cursive in STA when I was a student in the late 2000s. I believe they still teach the Zaner-Bloser method up there.

I write a mixture of print and cursive because I have a hard time connecting all the letters on longer words. I have to stop somewhere in the middle. My mom said you're supposed to move your whole arm when you write. I only move my hand.

r32 = lazy bottom pillow princess

We all learned print first and then immediately after we learned cursive. One thing we were told was that the small cursive s had to be curved enough on the right side that fairies could slide down it.

Did cursive make me gay?

R32 Yes, especially if you're writing with fountain pens.

It's the same logic as drawing/painting with your arm as to not injure your wrist.

Yeah, I don’t get the whole write with your whole arm thing. Half the time you’re writing on a tiny note pad.

Not learning cursive seems terribly regressive but it’s difficult to read something written in the 1800s and they had beautiful penmanship usually so it’s not that different.

[quote] Very pretentious all letters from the decayed aunts and uncles go right to the bin. Sorry I can’t read this ancient language!

You can’t write it either r19

I'm glad that I can, and sometimes do, write cursive. I wish they'd also taught sign language and a foreign language when I was in elementary school. Kids can learn anything.

My Maddie writes in perfect cursive. You should see his signature.

Regardless of how technologically we become, people should still know how to write cursive and print and understand the difference between the two styles from and early age in elementary school.

Your signature is uniquely your own. We should know how to write in cursive as well as know how to print.

No sign language, but we started French in 5th Grade, R38 (Nixon Administration).

Since I have pretty much stopped writing personal checks, I very rarely need to actually sign anything, so when I have to do so it's a bit of an effort. When I dropped off my ballot, I was slightly concerned that my signature might not be close enough that they'd ask me to come into the office to verify my identity.

I still write checks in cursive. But even though I learned cursive young and had to use it I don't any longer because my handwriting was ugly. Now I write in block letters simply because it isn't as offensive. Better, not by much but better.

I rarely write anything anymore but lists or notes for myself anymore. It's a mix of cursive and print. It's basically chicken scratch for me to read. When I sign a card I'll write a short note in cursive and concentrate on my penmanship, but otherwise I don't write anything anymore that's meant for other people. Why would I? My job doesn't require it and I'm not one for diaries or letter writing. It's not the 1850s for crying out loud.

When you people say "write checks" do you mean the Pay to the Order of line? I've been using print there since check #001. Who cursives that?

I still write the occasional check to get cash from my household account. I don't have a debit card for it. I always write in cursive because (a) I was taught to and (b) I like my handwriting and signature.

I take notes in cursive because it's quicker for me; same with my shopping list. I find printing to be time-consuming and often have trouble reading what I wrote.

For the person who said all letters have to be connected, that isn't always true. The first letters of my first, middle and last names are always separate. If I join them, it would look like a 5 year old wrote something down. My sister used to linked her letters. Even made the capital "A" in her name rounded like the lower case version. Her signature looked like a someone just learning how to write. It was embarrassing to see on her art work; she was really good at paining and drawing.

R45, I use cursive everyone on the check except the date.

A monogram would look terrible if it was in block letters, JMO.

What's cursive?

I don’t really write at all.

R45 - the "Pay TO" line should always be printed in plainly block bold letters equally spaced. It is possible to change digits to a higher number, and change -or add- 'hundred' to 'thousand' in cursive. The FBI has a handy-dandy chart on how to do this that is distributed to banks.

I don’t work in a bank R20, but I doubt it. Years ago (and I’m not that old) when I opened a checking account, I was told a bank … could compare a signature on a check to the one on file, if they suspected fraud.

I doubt that ever happened, but it was a good reason to use cursive vs . Block.

I'm a lot like R18, right down to "printing in all caps like my dad" or as if I was an architect. It's clean and stylish, and the occasional compliment I get from it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm left handed. As in "He has such nice printing. And he's left-handed. wtf?"

On the flip side, my cursive is awful. It's like a third grader's, because that's about when I phased cursive out.

I write it and speak it fluently.

No, but I speak it fluently.

Oh dear, silly me.

Great minds and all that, R53.

I consider people who can't read and write cursive illiterate.

I have people who do my writing for me. So should you.

[quote] Me culpa. I never gave it much thought, but wow, it really is a lost art.

Me culpa. Oh, dear.

I can’t believe how dumbed down American children have become. Not learning cursive is as outrageous as claiming that math is racist. Jesus Christ, the US isn’t going to survive at this rate.

[quote] On the flip side, my cursive is awful. It's like a third grader's, because that's about when I phased cursive out.

School shouldn’t have allowed that to happen.

Americans won’t even be able to read their own historical documents anymore.

Considering what the Federalists peddle, they already can’t.