# Lingering habits/bits of knowledge(?) -- M T W R F S U **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316 "2023-10-09T14:57:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/21 "2023-10-09T16:28:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I still use a weird cursive F that I was taught in grade school, but haven’t seen anybody else use in years, and can’t these days usually even find an example of online. > > What’s interesting is that I’ve never noticed anybody else having a problem figuring out that it is an F (and I use it, among other things, when writing checks.) Maybe they’re going by context? It can be written all in one line without lifting the pen/pencil, including then continuing on to the next letter; but it doesn’t look like an F when I think about it. By chance, is it the “F” on the far right of the second line in this link? I’ve seen it used exactly once: my sixth-grade science teacher wrote the word “Fix” when she was correcting an essay that I wrote. That “F” in the word “fix” made quite an impression on me, though, and I use it all the time! [https://www.reddit.com/r/Handwriting/comments/kb2r1s/variations\_of\_cursive\_capital\_letters/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Handwriting/comments/kb2r1s/variations_of_cursive_capital_letters/) ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/22 "2023-10-09T16:34:19Z")
I rarely use the caps lock key because 50 years ago when I started out as a typesetter the machines we used didn’t have one. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/23 "2023-10-09T16:37:59Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Let’s try another test. This is another sentence with FOUR spaces in between…? Yup, the board software is eating spaces. I HATE this. Lots of text input things seem to do this. It’s ENORMOUSLY annoying especially if you want to try to do a quick simple line-up formatting using spaces rather than invoking some sort of table-drawing app. Does it eat tabs as well? Ah, no, I see a tab keystroke seems to be interpreted as some kind of command character. Every text input app should have some sort of escape: #pragma: accept my keystrokes exactly as typed stuff #pragma end Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/24 "2023-10-09T16:40:01Z")
I’ve seen and used “R” as an abbreviation for Thursday. Seems pretty evident to me. But I’ve never seen “U” for Sunday before. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/25 "2023-10-09T16:43:15Z")
I, also, use a **þ** (actually, a made-up letter that has the same sound. I made up this letter before learning the real one) for Thursday. I’ve seen “R”, and understand it when I come across it in the wild. I’ve never seen “U” for Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/26 "2023-10-09T16:48:12Z")
In future I’m just taking Thursdays off to avoid any risk of confusion. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/27 "2023-10-09T16:52:09Z")
**þ** would be my choice if I were queen. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/28 "2023-10-09T16:57:30Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Diagonal line through “0” to ensure it’s not mistaken for an O. I can never remember whether that line’s supposed to indicate digit or letter, though. > [@Ponch8](#): > > By chance, is it the “F” on the far right of the second line in this link? Yes! That’s it! I’d better screenshot it so I’ll be able to show it the next time this subject comes up online. – and, actually, that in combination with the two versions to the left of it gives me some indication of how that might have come to be an F in the first place; which has puzzled me ever since I realized it’s unusual. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/29 "2023-10-09T18:15:24Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Diagonal line through “0” to ensure it’s not mistaken for an O. I picked up this habit even before I went to Europe. We were mocking up ads for the typesetters and this was important. I still do it when I know others will be looking at my info. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/30 "2023-10-09T18:17:15Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > > Let’s try another test. This is another sentence with FOUR spaces in between…? > > Yup, the board software is eating spaces. I HATE this. > Lots of text input things seem to do this. It’s ENORMOUSLY annoying especially if you want to try to do a quick simple line-up formatting using spaces rather than invoking some sort of table-drawing app. > > Does it eat tabs as well? Ah, no, I see a tab keystroke seems to be interpreted as some kind of command character. > > Every text input app should have some sort of escape: > > #pragma: accept my keystrokes exactly as typed > stuff > #pragma end > > Sigh… The HTML standard says all _browsers_ MUST eat consecutive spaces. It’s not Discourse. You can use the non-breaking-space character to achieve the result of non-eaten consecutive spaces. That is keystroked as “ ” without the enclosing quotes. So these two words have 4 nonbreaking spaces between: Adam    Bob. The cheat code here in Discourse for your pragma is code mode, which for inline usage begins and ends with a single backtick like `this and this` with 3 and 4 spaces between the two words respectively which renders as `this and this`. For a multi-line block, use a leading and trailing line of 3 backticks. Like this: ```auto The only downside to code mode is sometime it starts applying colors based on the assumption it's computer code. And it doesn't word wrap. But you can put muliple spaces between words if you want . ``` ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/31 "2023-10-09T18:28:08Z")
It looks a lot like the cursive Q I was taught ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/32 "2023-10-09T19:12:34Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I still use a weird cursive F that I was taught in grade school… It can be written all in one line without lifting the pen/pencil, including then continuing on to the next letter; but it doesn’t look like an F when I think about it. There’s a huge problem with cursive, and why it confuses students (and my own kids): you get letters that can be written quickly (and without lifting your fountain pen), but they look nothing like the actual letter. And often look like each other (upper case Fs and Ts especially, but also [Ss and Ls](https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/71632/is-this-name-transcribed-correctly-from-cursive-writing-from-1866))! My kids get cards from my mom (in her mid-90s, and not about to “dumb down proper penmanship for Today’s Undereducated Youth”)… and they promptly hand them over to me to get translated. Which to be honest, I do haltingly, stumped by her Neo-Spencerian Script. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/33 "2023-10-09T19:31:58Z")
I used to work for a company that abbreviated the days of the week as > `SMTWRFJ` They had the decency to start the week on Sunday as is standard in their home country. R is the least-silly possible letter for Thursday given that T is taken already for Tuesday. I have a real hard time justifying J for Saturday though. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/34 "2023-10-09T19:51:40Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I have a real hard time justifying J for Saturday though. But your (former) industry is notorious for both (a) loving to have codes for absolutely everything, and (b) often using codes that have no mnemonic value whatsoever with no rhyme or reason. 😉 For instance, back in the day – not sure if this was a universal standard or just Air Canada – an economy-class fare would be denoted by “Y” on the ticket. Maybe because “econom **Y** ”? But business class was “J”. They really screwed the pooch for first class, though – the Inscrutable Code Creator must have been on vacation, so they actually and sensibly used “F”. And someone please explain how “YYZ” spells “Toronto Pearson International”!\* \* Not seriously asking. I’ve spent years trying to solve this mystery. Other than the fact that Canada likes to (mostly) have IATA airport codes begin with “Y” (a couple of obscure airport codes start with “Z”) the closest I could come to an answer is that some airport codes are derived from old railway station codes, and apparently the code for the Malton station where the airport is now located was “YZ”. But as to why the railroad types picked “YZ”, that remains an impenetrable mystery. > [@MrDibble](#): > > For Sunday, I got nothing, but _U_ seems weird. Well, it makes sense from the standpoint of “if you can’t use the first letter, use the second one”. Similar example for airport codes. There is/was an inconsistent effort to reserve codes beginning with “N” for US Navy bases. So Newark airpot, which might have been “NEW”, “NWR”, or “NWK”, had to settle for “EWR”. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/35 "2023-10-09T19:59:20Z")
I have used R as Thursday for decades - I picked it up from the schedule-maker at an old job. Whenever someone notices it, they question me about it. I’ve never heard of the Sunday U, but I like it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/36 "2023-10-09T21:36:14Z")
I’d experienced R for Thursday in one of the advanced educational institutions I went to, though I don’t remember which one. I also thought that if you’re doing that, then if you had to choose a different code for Sunday, U would make the most sense. I’m glad other people agree with me. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/37 "2023-10-09T22:24:21Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > ☼ seems like a safe choice. \odot is the more standard symbol. I always use “R” for Thursday, though I don’t remember exactly where I learned that. I don’t disambiguate between Saturday and Sunday, because I rarely have the need to refer to either. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2023, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/38 "2023-10-09T22:25:25Z")
> [@digs](#): > > There’s a huge problem with cursive, and why it confuses students (and my own kids): you get letters that can be written quickly (and without lifting your fountain pen), but they look nothing like the actual letter. > > And often look like each other (upper case Fs and Ts especially, but also [Ss and Ls](https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/71632/is-this-name-transcribed-correctly-from-cursive-writing-from-1866))! > > My kids get cards from my mom (in her mid-90s, and not about to “dumb down proper penmanship for Today’s Undereducated Youth”)… and they promptly hand them over to me to get translated. I have seen some beautifully written and perfectly clear cursive. (Perfectly clear given that the reader has some idea what cursive looks like. But no writing will be clear to a reader who’s not trained to recognize the letters used.) And I have seen some massively unclear cursive – I won’t say horribly written necessarily, because while some of it was, some of it had clearly been written with great care and precision: just with so many curlicues that it was illegible. And I have seen some massively unclear block printing, for that matter, if written poorly enough. Some of it was mine – whether I use cursive or printing my handwriting tends towards the illegible, and if I want to be able to make sense in the future of what I wrote I need to transcribe it within a few days of writing it while I still have some memory of what I meant to guide me. > [@wolfpup](#): > > back in the day – not sure if this was a universal standard or just Air Canada – an economy-class fare would be denoted by “Y” on the ticket. Maybe because “econom **Y** ”? But business class was “J”. They really screwed the pooch for first class, though – the Inscrutable Code Creator must have been on vacation, so they actually and sensibly used “F”. My grade (elementary, K-6) school used E for excellent, G for good, and F for fair. (I don’t remember what they used for “flunking”, though that’s probably what I got in gym class.) Seems logical enough, no? Except that every school/college I’ve been to since used F for failing, and if they used E it was for ‘almost failing’. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/39 "2023-10-09T23:08:38Z")
I was never “taught” these single letter abbreviations in school, but have used them since i was a kid: UMTWHFS Not entirely sure why i use U for Sunday instead of an A for Saturday. I kind of remember thinking, “Well, Saturday is the first day of the weekend, so it gets dibs on the S.” And I’ve always used H for Thursday. It’s the second letter of the second day of the week to start with a T. H just made sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316/40 "2023-10-09T23:17:58Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > My grade (elementary, K-6) school used E for excellent, G for good, and F for fair. (I don’t remember what they used for “flunking”, though that’s probably what I got in gym class.) Seems logical enough, no? Except that every school/college I’ve been to since used F for failing, and if they used E it was for ‘almost failing’. In the epoch when I went to school, you had to be careful to not get eaten by dinosaurs on the way, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I don’t think I’ve ever attended an institution that gave letter grades (which to my understanding were generally A, B, C, maybe D, with pluses or minuses, and F). They were, as far as I can remember, always numerical grades on a scale of 100. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lingering-habits-bits-of-knowledge-m-t-w-r-f-s-u/991316.md?page=3)