# Is your handwriting turning to shit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452 "2010-01-26T01:19:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/41 "2010-01-26T18:48:24Z")
I’m gonna toot my own horn here and say that my handwriting is quite good.It looks like the Declaration of Independence, only legible. ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/42 "2010-01-26T19:37:45Z")
Mine’s embarrassing, like a three year old. Even my signature blows. :smack: Was gonna say I shoulda been a doctor, but I notice even prescriptions are computer generated now! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/43 "2010-01-26T20:35:52Z")
Turn_ing_, no. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/44 "2010-01-26T20:39:42Z")
Mine’s fine… if I take the time to write carefully. I always got crappy grades for penmanship in grade school but really, if I’m slow, it’s quite legible. Like others, most of my communication is typed so it’s not an issue. If I’m writing however, especially if I’m writing fast, it’s… not so readable. My signature, especially for “get it done fast” stuff like paying at the grocery store, has evolved from a relatively legible “Mama Z?pp?” (where the ? could be either o or a). To something more like M?m? Z&%-----". I think this all started a few years back when I was doing a lot of one-on-one interviews for a work project, and had to take down everything the interviewee said. I would then go back and try to transcribe my notes. **Typo Knig** has found his handwriting to devolve also. Unfortunately his starting point wasn’t as high as mine - his handwriting was alway utterly awful and hard to read, and has degraded to the point where it’s literally illegible - sometimes even to _him_. Even when he block prints. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/45 "2010-01-26T22:47:45Z")
No, because my handwriting has \*always \*been shitty. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/46 "2010-01-26T23:36:46Z")
My cursive is probably a little worse than it was when I was, say, in high school. This is because I never use it. My day-to-day writing is pretty legible, and my printing for anything worthwhile is actually very neat, and kind of nice-looking. My cursive always kind of sucked, though. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/47 "2010-01-26T23:48:48Z")
It turned to shit rather a while ago. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/48 "2010-01-27T01:45:01Z")
Mine sucks. It was always sort of sucky but once I got out of college, I all but ceased writing. I didn’t really notice until I went to be all cool and send hand-written letters to my grandparents a few years back…and realized that not only should I not make people read that chicken scratch I _certainly_ should not make old people try to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/49 "2010-01-27T04:50:40Z")
Mine sucks as well, which further sucks because of a significant emotional event during my junior HS days, I altered my penmanship to try to create a style which I could make my own. I did, but had to adjust it to “conform” to society that folks in the real world could read without thinking I was weird with all the serifs and what not. It used to look pretty cool. Then I broke my pinky finger. Everything went to hell after that. I can’t write the same anymore, can’t hold chopsticks in my writing hand, can’t do a whole lot of things. To make matters worse, all “P” words that I have to type suck as well. It has really slowed my WPM a lot. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/50 "2010-01-27T05:52:52Z")
My handwriting has always been terrible, but has definitely gotten much worse as I’ve aged. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/51 "2010-01-27T06:33:21Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I started typing in the seventh grade, and my handwriting has been on a steady decline since. > > I’m 41. This is me, pretty much. (I’m 39, and e-mail and bulletin boards have accounted for 98.9% of my written communication since 1984.) My cursive writing was poor for a ten-year-old, and it’s only gotten worse since then. My printing is comically illegible if I’m hurried, but I can still produce obsessively neat printing if I take my time over it. I am frankly ashamed of my signature. I am mortified when I have to sign letters for work. Nicely formatted letter, Very Serious tone, fancy letterhead -all that effort seems kind of wasted when they get to the end, and “Hey, he contracts out to a drunk seven-year-old to sign his correspondence!” ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/52 "2010-01-27T06:38:35Z")
My handwriting has been terrible since… forever, like pulled aside by teachers and forced to have one-on-one help terrible. My note-taking handwriting has devolved to the point where I have to be careful because I may ultimately be unable to read it myself. However, I somehow did gain the ability to write in a very legible fashion relatively quickly. It still has some hiccups, but when I looked at a paper I got back once I realized that when I concentrate enough I can make my handwriting a lot neater than I thought I could. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/53 "2010-01-27T06:42:49Z")
Old-timer here (47) - my writing was never good, but presbyopia adds a new complication: unless I’m wearing my reading glasses, I can’t read what I’m writing as I write it! This makes for whole new adventures in penmanship when I need to fill out something at the pharmacy or some other place I didn’t think to bring that damn pair of specs. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/54 "2010-01-28T01:52:34Z")
No. I make a point of using cursive for every note I take. In some ways it’s probably better than ever. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/55 "2010-01-28T04:11:53Z")
I developed a pretty good handwriting through practice, but it was uphill all the way because of left-handedness. Having to _push_ the pen where others pull is a real disadvantage in writing like them - which, for better or worse, is the standard of good penmanship. As I advance into my 40s, I find my handwriting hobbled further by writer’s cramp and a slight essential tremor. But I forge on. For one thing, I _enjoy_ writing by hand. ---
**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, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/56 "2010-01-28T07:13:36Z")
Mine is no longer turning, as it seems to have become constant. It’s better than when I first started writing, worse than when I would spend hours on homework so I could get a good handwriting grade, and about the same as it was once I moved to public school and found out that your handwriting didn’t count against getting on the honor roll (and getting the free pizza party.) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/57 "2010-01-28T07:27:05Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I > Is this holding pattern that odd? \*This picture was taken a few years ago to show how I hold my pen, due to someone saying it was ‘weird’. I am now curious as to whether anyone else holds it that way. ] I hold a pen _almost_ the same way and my parents ridiculed me about it for years. But it is the only way that feels right to me. My son has a non-standard grip similar but not identical to mine; he is not home right now for me to verify it, but I am thinking that his grip matches the one in the photograph. If I try to write with my left hand, though (I’m right handed), I have a conventional grip. And yes, my handwriting has steadily deteriorated over the last decade or so. I don’t know whether to attribute it to age or the fact that I rarely write by hand any more. It is probably some of both. What’s very disturbing is that when I really, really try hard to fill out a form neatly, it still comes out looking disorderly. It’s one thing to have crummy handwriting, but much worse when you put your mind to producing something neat, and still can’t do it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/58 "2010-01-28T07:52:54Z")
Mine is still good. I have to make a lot of handwritten notes at work. But it still looks like old lady hanwriting. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/59 "2010-01-28T13:13:34Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Is this holding pattern that odd? \*This picture was taken a few years ago to show how I hold my pen, due to someone saying it was ‘weird’. I am now curious as to whether anyone else holds it that way. > > [ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/747/dsc00396yq.jpg) :eek: How, or with what, are you holding it?? My work firewall blocks the site for inappropriate content?😛 At 57, I can still print and write quite well. My manager even commented on it in my Performance Review last week. Of course, my degree is in architecture, so my printing is in that style. My handwriting is quite unique, and everybody always knows its mine, even in a group of 10 drafters. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452/60 "2010-01-28T17:49:46Z")
I haven’t written cursive in 20 years, because I found my printing to be much more readable, and not a lot slower to do. Nowadays, I can barely write in cursive at all and have any hope of reading it afterwards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-handwriting-turning-to-shit/526452.md?page=4)