# How do you write a letter O? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940 "2023-01-28T13:29:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/21 "2023-01-28T16:23:02Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > This was an American colleague, so I am wondering if this is a common way to write 8s in the US? I’ll do it that way sometimes. Just because. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/22 "2023-01-28T16:47:20Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I had to grab a pen and paper. So did I. When I tried it in the air I thought it was clockwise; but when I actually used a pen it’s counterclockwise every time. – also counterclockwise with the left hand. (My left hand produces what looks like a small child’s writing, and is much slower than the right. It isn’t always less legible, though.) Same with zeros; my zeros are indistinguishable from letter-O’s. So, IME, are a lot of the ones people give you if they write down their email addresses. > [@Mijin](#): > > he wrote all the 8s as two Os stacked, and therefore took ages to write the thing. This was an American colleague, so I am wondering if this is a common way to write 8s in the US? I also use a single figure-8 motion (and am in the USA). ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/23 "2023-01-28T16:48:59Z")
Thanks for the responses, and sorry for the slight hijack. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/24 "2023-01-28T16:55:17Z")
I already voted for counter-clockwise (and I also had to imagine myself writing it to know), and I got in the habit of making my 8s like stacked o’s because I liked the way they looked better. Years ago I also started making the final letter in a word when it’s a T the old-fashioned way. Hard to describe…sorta like crossing itself without making a separate cross slash? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/25 "2023-01-28T16:57:09Z")
Counterclockwise in “print” or when starting a word, but clockwise when writing in cursive. I think the latter is just due to the general flow of cursive. Both start from the left side, though. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/26 "2023-01-28T16:58:17Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Years ago I also started making the final letter in a word when it’s a T the old-fashioned way. Hard to describe…sorta like crossing itself without making a separate cross slash? I can do that – and I must have done it before, my hand knows how – but I don’t usually. – do you wind up with a kind of loop for the bottom half of the t? [ETA: I do.] ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/27 "2023-01-28T17:07:01Z")
A smallish loop, but, yeah. I like to try to avoid it and make it a point instead. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/28 "2023-01-28T19:32:34Z")
Counter-clockwise from the top. > [@Mijin](#): > > … he wrote all the 8s as two Os stacked, and therefore took ages to write the thing. This was an American colleague, so I am wondering if this is a common way to write 8s in the US? Looks like I do a closed circle at the top and a partial one at the bottom, starting at the top circle’s 7 or 8 o’clock and ending at it’s 4 or 5. And _that’s_ why I have a bunch of 8s drawn on a junkmail envelope next to the computer. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2023, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/29 "2023-01-28T19:35:58Z")
People still write? 😉 On its own, from the top, clockwise. But when writing my name in script, from top, anti-clockwise. I guess it depends on what precedes it. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/30 "2023-01-29T00:04:00Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > People still write? 😉 Anything old enough is retro/vintage and therefore cool again, so, yes. > [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > On its own, from the top, clockwise. > > But when writing my name in script, from top, anti-clockwise. I guess it depends on what precedes it. I was going to post this. An “O” is not the same thing as a “zero”; at least, I will throw some distinctive loops on the former, like in the Coca-Cola logo, and it typically gets joined up on one or both sides, while I feel like I am just as, if not much more likely to draw an isolated circle or oval clockwise, depending on what precedes it, though am not consciously sure. Jotting some block letters, I feel like it depends on the previous letter. I suppose some really old-school lettering pens or calligraphic type of nibs may not work on an upstroke and therefore you would need two strokes to complete an “O”, but it is not something I have ever had to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/31 "2023-01-29T00:05:01Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Clockwise. But then, I’m a lefty. I’m also a lefty. Counter-clockwise! ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/32 "2023-01-29T00:08:35Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > also a lefty. Counter-clockwise! Same. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/33 "2023-01-29T00:13:49Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Counterclockwise in “print” or when starting a word, but clockwise when writing in cursive. I think the latter is just due to the general flow of cursive. That’s interesting, as we were definitely taught counterclockwise in cursive, especially since you have that little loopy flourish (at least in the Palmer Method I was taught) at the end that leads to the next letter. [![](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c900f32312a52fdc2708d012c0c7e5e5-lq) ](https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-c900f32312a52fdc2708d012c0c7e5e5-lq) Doing it clockwise feels really weird to me – but that’s decades of muscle memory there. In printing, a clockwise O doesn’t feel so odd. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/34 "2023-01-29T00:25:53Z")
Are 4’s closed like a triangle or open like an field goal uprights? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/35 "2023-01-29T00:29:03Z")
Counterclockwise, starting at about the 1 o’clock point. And since someone mentioned number 8’s… I draw them starting at the very top drawing the left half, when I get to the bottom, I continue around and draw the right half going up. Lower circle is larger than the upper. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/36 "2023-01-29T00:29:26Z")
The way I was taught, the loop comes after I’ve already completed the circle once. I start as shown in your diagram, but then I go all the way around to make the circle, then, when I get back to the top, I add the little loop. I don’t ever reverse direction the way it is shown in your diagram. Edit: and for an 8, I draw an S and then connect the end back to the start. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/37 "2023-01-29T00:32:34Z")
Clockwise, starting at nine o’clock. Can’t say I’ve ever thought about it before. > [@](#): > > and for an 8, I draw an S and then connect the end back to the start. Likewise. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/38 "2023-01-29T00:55:04Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Edit: and for an 8, I draw an S and then connect the end back to the start. Yeah, same here on the 8. I looked at my kid’s notes – because apparently are doing a quick introduction to cursive (3rd grade) – and her “O” is the same as I was taught – I’m not sure what specific method is being used. Googling “cursive o worksheet” I only see the counterclockwise method from a cursory perusal. Was this how you were taught, or your own personal style? My own cursive is a lot different than what I was taught, so I totally get doing it the way that feels most comfortable and sensible to you. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/39 "2023-01-29T01:08:06Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Are 4’s closed like a triangle or open like an field goal uprights? Open! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940/40 "2023-01-29T01:10:39Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Are 4’s closed like a triangle or open like an field goal uprights? Open, or else they get mistaken for ugly 9s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-letter-o/978940.md?page=3)