# Can you write in cursive all the alphabet? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544 "2009-10-12T16:43:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/1 "2009-10-12T16:43:13Z")
Can you write in cursive all the alphabet in upper and lower case without getting help? Please actually try to do this before you say yes. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/2 "2009-10-12T16:44:20Z")
Yes, but then I’m old and learned it in school. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/3 "2009-10-12T16:45:35Z")
I’m thinking a few adults will find they no longer know how to do every letter. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/4 "2009-10-12T16:50:22Z")
I had to think about some of the capitals for a moment, but yes, I can. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/5 "2009-10-12T16:58:10Z")
I voted no. I can do all the lower case letters, but some of the upper case letters were so crazy that I don’t think I remembered them even a year after learning them. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/6 "2009-10-12T17:05:54Z")
I had to think about the capital Q for a moment, but then I remembered, “Oh yeah. It looks like the number 2… for some reason.” ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/7 "2009-10-12T17:13:28Z")
What if my 2s looks like Zs? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/8 "2009-10-12T17:21:09Z")
When I was in grade school, we learned a very archaic system, with the Q that looks like a 2, and an upper case L that looks like the symbol for the British pound, minus the line across the middle. I hated it then, I hate it now, and I write (when I’m forced to) mostly in the block lettering I learned in high school drafting class. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/9 "2009-10-12T17:21:23Z")
Phil Rirruto? Nope - totally forgot how to do a capital Q. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/10 "2009-10-12T17:21:53Z")
My six-year-old daughter is interested in cursive writing and she asked me to write all of the letters for her. I remembered the lower-case letters but I couldn’t remember many of the capital letters, not even simple ones like D. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/11 "2009-10-12T17:22:01Z")
I don’t need help, but it looks like crap. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/12 "2009-10-12T17:26:02Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > What if my 2s looks like Zs? 😛 Well then I’d say you’re doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/13 "2009-10-12T17:26:42Z")
I’m not sure exactly what you mean–I write my own brand of cursive (which is a hodgepodge of several different styles). But I can also write everything in old-fashioned standard American cursive, if that’s what you meant. I just did it, even the F. There are a lot of different cursive styles though. I’m making my kids learn Italic–much prettier and more practical. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/14 "2009-10-12T17:28:42Z")
It was drilled into me as a kid, so I voted yes. That said, I gave up writing cursive ages ago - starts off nice and neat, and then by the second or third sentence, it gets so sloppy even I can’t read it anymore. When I lived in Berlin, the sweet little old lady next door would leave me notes to buy her groceries, etc. She wrote in old German script - and that was really hard to figure out, but she wrote so beautifully, that I learned it. I was surprised to later find out that very few of my German friends could read her writing in that script. They were amazed that I could do it. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/15 "2009-10-12T17:43:22Z")
Yes, I learned how back in grammer school in the '60s. I did have to think about the capital Q and the capital Z, but I did them. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/16 "2009-10-12T17:47:16Z")
Oh yeah, upper **and** lower case. I can’t remember if we had a penmanship class every day, but I know we had it for at least one entire school year, probably 4th grade. When you spend that much time on it (especially when your teacher is cute\*), you don’t forget it. Mr. Adams, tall and slim and young, with dark curly hair, also taught music appreciation. He used to sit next to Miss Coburn (she of the tight skirts, pointy bra, and nearly transparent sweaters) at the basketball games. I think she was his beard though. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/17 "2009-10-12T18:04:22Z")
I just wrote everything out with my finger on my desk. Yes, I still remember how to write all upper- and lower-case letters “properly” in cursive. However, my handwriting is a fusion of cursive and print. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/18 "2009-10-12T18:04:46Z")
I thought I knew them all, but I’d forgotten the capital ‘Q’. I still write in cursive sometimes, but even then I use the print versions of capital S, G, Z, and usually J. They are still teaching cursive writing in elementary school. My son writes much neater in cursive than he does in print. But they also teach “keyboarding” and most of his assignments are typed on a computer now. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/19 "2009-10-12T18:09:07Z")
Yes but only because a friend reminded me of the capital ‘Q’ just the other day. I remember feeling as a child like I had unlocked a whole new language once I learned cursive in school. My mother would write notes in cursive and I used to have to ask her to read them. Imagine my surprise when it turned out cursive mostly looked like regular English and my mother just had bad handwriting! EDIT: I am 18 years old. I learned to write in cursive in second grade. I don’t know if this is still taught everywhere because I went to private schools up until 8th grade. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544/20 "2009-10-12T18:12:26Z")
I can’t make them legible to YOU, but I know what they are supposed to look like. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-write-in-cursive-all-the-alphabet/513544.md?page=2)