# Is there any way to romanize quoted text?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [June 21, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216 "2005-06-21T16:20:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/1 "2005-06-21T16:20:08Z")
When text is quoted with an attribution, it is automatically italicized. Is there any tag I can apply that will romanize parts of quoted text, instead of using bold for emphasis?
For example:
> [@Me](#):
>
> This is all in italics. What if I want to emphasize **this** word by un-italicizing it? Is that possible?
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/2 "2005-06-21T16:36:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> When text is quoted with an attribution, it is automatically italicized. Is there any tag I can apply that will romanize parts of quoted text, instead of using bold for emphasis?
Test
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/3 "2005-06-21T16:39:56Z")
OK, you can control the internal italicization of quotes if you skip the BB’s auto-quote feature. You can instead apply QUOTE tags yourself. That gives you the ability to better control what’s inside the quote.
You can also add your own custom tagline, if you wish, e.g. _Originally Posted by Me_.
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/4 "2005-06-21T16:40:07Z")
I usually underline things I want to emphasize in quotes. I find the bolding can get lost a little too easily.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/5 "2005-06-21T16:50:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by **Misnomer**
> When text is quoted with an attribution, it is automatically italicized. Is there any tag I can apply that will romanize parts of quoted text, instead of using bold for emphasis?
>
> For example:
You can type in the originally posted by part. Kind of a pain though.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/6 "2005-06-21T19:18:00Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> \*You can type in the originally posted by part. Kind of a pain though.
Test
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/7 "2005-06-21T19:19:07Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#):
>
> _You can type in the originally posted by part. Kind of a pain though._
Test
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/8 "2005-06-21T19:32:53Z")
(QUOTE)Originally posted by (b)Colibri(/b)
Test(/QUOTE)
No, this is how I did it.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/9 "2005-06-21T20:17:29Z")
Clarification: I don’t want _all_ of the quote to be romanized, just one or two words in the quote. It may not be possible, I was just wondering if those with greater BB skills than I knew of a way. 🙂
> [@Lord Ashtar](#):
>
> I usually underline things I want to emphasize in quotes.
Underlining may be the way to go … thanks!
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/10 "2005-06-21T20:32:57Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> Clarification: I don’t want _all_ of the quote to be romanized, just one or two words in the quote. It may not be possible, I was just wondering if those with greater BB skills than I knew of a way. 🙂
Of course it’s possible. It’s just that the BB’s auto-quote feature gets in the way.
You see, if you have all the quoted text “romanized”, you can go in and add your italics tags exactly where you want them.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/11 "2005-06-21T20:47:17Z")
> [@bordelond](#):
>
> Of course it’s possible.
You say this, but then you proceed to tell me how to do something else.
I’m not sure how to make this any clearer: I don’t want the entire quote to be romanized (which is what my editing prof. called it when you un-slant italicized text). I want to keep the attribution statements that appear when you click “reply” in a post. I just want to be able to romanize one or two of the words.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/12 "2005-06-21T20:53:10Z")
Romanize the whole text as instructed above. Then add the [i] at the beginning of the quote; put the [/ i] right before the stuff you want in roman; add a [i] after those words; put a [/ i] at the end of the quote.
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### Author:  [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/13 "2005-06-21T21:06:46Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> You say this, but then you proceed to tell me how to do something else.
Not so. I wrote:
**You see, if you have all the quoted text “romanized”, you can go in and add your italics tags exactly where you want them.**
And that’s the way to do what you’re trying to do. **Twickster** did a much better job of explaining it. But you do have started with fully “romanized” text to get the effect you want. You won’t be able to selectively “romanize” bits and pieces of text from an auto-quote (auto-quote = what you get when you click on the Reply button).
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/14 "2005-06-22T01:55:34Z")
Apparently, I’m doing a terrible job of communicating…
I don’t want an effect. I don’t want to have to make my own “Originally posted by …” attribute. I don’t want to skip the auto-quote function. I already knew that a quote without an attribution is not italicized (if you don’t believe me, look up some of my old posts). I just want to know if there is a tag that works like [i] but in reverse. I now see what **bordelond** is saying, but that is _still_ not what I asked: you are not telling me how to romanize italicized text, you are telling me to create the quote box from scratch and then italicize regular text to the exclusion of certain words.
See the difference?
As this thread continues I’m becoming more and more sure that the answer to my question is “no,” but it’s frustrating that I haven’t been able to get the question across in the first place. ☹
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/15 "2005-06-22T01:56:41Z")
> [@Misnomer](#):
>
> As this thread continues I’m becoming more and more sure that the answer to my question is “no,” but it’s frustrating that I haven’t been able to get the question across in the first place. ☹
For what it’s worth, there doesn’t appear to be any option for what you want.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/16 "2005-06-22T03:28:46Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> For what it’s worth, there doesn’t appear to be any option for what you want.
Thanks. 😛
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### Author:  [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/17 "2005-06-22T18:13:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally Posted by **ultrafilter**
> _For what it’s worth, there doesn’t appear to be any option for what you want._
Things aren’t always as they appear. The code:
{quote}Originally Posted by {b}ultrafilter{/b}
{i}For what it’s worth, there doesn’t {/i}appear{i} to be any option for what you want.{/i}{/quote}
Of course replace curly with square brakets. Is this worth your effort?
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/18 "2005-06-22T18:17:30Z")
> [@Pleonast](#):
>
> {normal}Of course replace curly with square brakets. Is this worth your effort?{/normal}
That’s what I would do, but the OP was asking if there was any tag that could be placed as I’ve placed the pseudo-tag above to avoid the italics.
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### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/19 "2005-06-22T18:30:51Z")
**Pleonast** , that’s exactly what **bordelond** suggested. It’s not a matter of being “worth my effort,” it’s a matter of answering the question that I asked.
> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> That’s what I would do, but the OP was asking if there was any tag that could be placed as I’ve placed the pseudo-tag above to avoid the italics.
Um, no, that’s _not_ what I was asking. I want to romanize _one or two words_ in “replied” text, not the entire quote. See the example in my OP, where I wanted to be able to un-italicize the word “this.” Or if I had wanted to romanize the word “avoid” in the bit I just quoted from your post.
When you put the [i] [/ i] tags around text, it gets italicized. I was just wondering if there is a similar tag that _un_-italicizes.
I feel like I’m saying the same thing over and over … I communicate via writing for a living … this is depressing… ☹
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [June 22, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-romanize-quoted-text/309216/20 "2005-06-22T18:34:36Z")
Just reverse the order of those tags.
{I} I said I was walking to the store to get some bread{/I}
{I} I said I was {/I}walking{I} to the store to get some bread.{/I}
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