# strange characters \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2014, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377 "2014-02-27T02:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/21 "2014-02-27T09:19:44Z")
Win 7, Chrome. That’s hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/22 "2014-02-27T09:22:19Z")
[There’s a text generator for that](http://eeemo.net/), it allows up and down, but not diagonal. H̸̨̧͖̟̬̘̣̦̰̬̲͕̤͍͓͚ͦ͐ͣ̋́̅͊̓̏e̷͗̄̓̊ͨ̅͆ͦ͌͋ͥ̏̽̈͌̚͏̧̮̣̥̲̩̮͙̺̱̠͉̖͔l̡̧͎͙̟̗̦̞͉̈͒̊̔p̵̡̯̺̩̯̯̰͓͔̞̥͚̭̓ͬͭͨͨ͑ͫ̎ͩ̃ͣ̏͑̀͜!ͮͤͧ͆̊͌ͯ̄̃ͤ̍ͫ̆̕͡҉̬̜̭̝̝̬̯̳̘͟͠ ̶̱͉̣̬̟̭̜̱̝̝̙̼̣̺̜ͮ̏̔ͨͤ̐̇̋͛̉̍͋̂̐͋ͩ̇ͬ͟I̴̧̬̲͍͖̮̦̻̩̣͊̋ͨ͗̄́̉ͧ̌̿̽͑ͤͦ̅ͬͬ̚͘’̷̨̛̠̖̤̺̪͔͖͍̻͇͉̭̼̫ͦ͊ͮ̽ͯ̾̃̅ͬ͗͊̾̉̓͐ͧ͂ͅm̦͓̘͕̜̻̜̎̀͗̋ͤ̔ͧͮ̈̊͒̒̂̉ͤ̄̓͐̾͞ ̤͚̺͖̩͆ͧͨ̄͌͒͋ͬ̂͑̍̾̽ͤ̊̈́̂̎͡͝s̴̶̋ͦ͌̈̇̽͛̇̚͏͍̙̳͇̫̮̲̩̗̝͕̗͉̪͈̗͉̩̕͢ͅt̢̛ͧ͆ͦ͐̇̓́̒́ͪ̆ͧ͊ͩ̀͝҉̳͔̜̮u̵̸̢͙̙̪͓͓̔̀̏ͤ͋̾̉͛͟ͅc̵̙͚̮͊̌͌͆͗͐͗͆̂ͮͪ̍͛̀͟k̭̺̮̩̩̟͙̺̬͂ͭ̄ͩ̅ͬ͐͑̈̋͆̾̔͟͞ ͕̺̗̱̠̘̳̖̺̗͕͍̬ͨ̇̾͆̾͛͂̓ͭͬ̍̈̍̽̋ͭ͑̆̕͘í̵̶͉͕͉͈̫̠̭͚̝̳̭̰̘̥̺̠̰̯ͭ͑ͪͧ̔ͯ͑͢͡͡n̨͛̄̊̈́̏ͬ̽̚҉̟̜̜̠̭̣̙̳͔̠̭͍̲̼͖̹ ̶̷̷̵̲̜̹̠ͣ̍͛̏ͮ͛͌̉ͩ̓ͤͣ͆̎̍̒̚t̶̨͈̼͔̯̣̹̭̹͙̠̦̜̖̦͍͗̈́́̀͐͊̄ͤͭ̋̎̚͘͠ḩ̵̸̨̣̲͓͖̝̲̖͖̣͇̽̑̌̐ͬe̎͂̊̍̌ͨ̈ͭ̿̀ͥ̋ͩ͑̀͏̲͕̠̺̗̝͙̘̜̤͉̭̪̪̭͢͜ ̸̪͍̖̠̟̟̩̦̫̭̂̓̓̋͛̀͑ͧ͟͟͠ͅv̵̴̛̙̝̱͈̍̂ͪͪ͆̈́ͫ̒ͪ̒̔͆͞ͅo̵̵͇̘̮̤̙̤̭͐̋̏ͬ̊̐͂̂͑̎ͧ̾̊ͮͭ͢͠ͅi̜̙̥̬̹͓̯͙͈̬̺̜̮ͪ̍ͨ͆ͪ̄̅ͪͭ̃̈́͑́̀d̢̠͔̙͓͉̤̺̫̙̟̞̯̬͍̲̮͉̫ͪ̔̊!̛ͧ̈̉̈ͩ̾̒̍̿́̿̇̋̉ͤ̋̓͌͢͏҉̲̥͈̪̬̺͓̜̰̻̗͚̮ͅ Z͙͙̳̯̠ͨ̅́̕͡a̴͔͖͔̜̞̩̜ͫ̈ͭ̎͛ͧ͜l̨̨̮̺̘̻͔̙̿ͨͪ͒̚ġ̻͍̱̹̪̼̦ͩ̋̂ͮ̇̏̚͡o̲̎̏̈̉̿ͧ!̃̏̋ͨ͂̎ͭ͏̦̲̖̯͍̤ ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/23 "2014-02-27T10:20:40Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I get them diagonal. About 50 degrees from horizontal, I’d say. Both leftward and rightward. Same here (IE8). **Crazyhorse** ’s post looks like a game of Missile Command. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/24 "2014-02-27T10:35:26Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > [There’s a text generator for that](http://eeemo.net/), it allows up and down, but not diagonal. H̸̨̧͖̟̬̘̣̦̰̬̲͕̤͍͓͚ͦ͐ͣ̋́̅͊̓̏e̷͗̄̓̊ͨ̅͆ͦ͌͋ͥ̏̽̈͌̚͏̧̮̣̥̲̩̮͙̺̱̠͉̖͔l̡̧͎͙̟̗̦̞͉̈͒̊̔p̵̡̯̺̩̯̯̰͓͔̞̥͚̭̓ͬͭͨͨ͑ͫ̎ͩ̃ͣ̏͑̀͜!ͮͤͧ͆̊͌ͯ̄̃ͤ̍ͫ̆̕͡҉̬̜̭̝̝̬̯̳̘͟͠ ̶̱͉̣̬̟̭̜̱̝̝̙̼̣̺̜ͮ̏̔ͨͤ̐̇̋͛̉̍͋̂̐͋ͩ̇ͬ͟I̴̧̬̲͍͖̮̦̻̩̣͊̋ͨ͗̄́̉ͧ̌̿̽͑ͤͦ̅ͬͬ̚͘’̷̨̛̠̖̤̺̪͔͖͍̻͇͉̭̼̫ͦ͊ͮ̽ͯ̾̃̅ͬ͗͊̾̉̓͐ͧ͂ͅm̦͓̘͕̜̻̜̎̀͗̋ͤ̔ͧͮ̈̊͒̒̂̉ͤ̄̓͐̾͞ ̤͚̺͖̩͆ͧͨ̄͌͒͋ͬ̂͑̍̾̽ͤ̊̈́̂̎͡͝s̴̶̋ͦ͌̈̇̽͛̇̚͏͍̙̳͇̫̮̲̩̗̝͕̗͉̪͈̗͉̩̕͢ͅt̢̛ͧ͆ͦ͐̇̓́̒́ͪ̆ͧ͊ͩ̀͝҉̳͔̜̮u̵̸̢͙̙̪͓͓̔̀̏ͤ͋̾̉͛͟ͅc̵̙͚̮͊̌͌͆͗͐͗͆̂ͮͪ̍͛̀͟k̭̺̮̩̩̟͙̺̬͂ͭ̄ͩ̅ͬ͐͑̈̋͆̾̔͟͞ ͕̺̗̱̠̘̳̖̺̗͕͍̬ͨ̇̾͆̾͛͂̓ͭͬ̍̈̍̽̋ͭ͑̆̕͘í̵̶͉͕͉͈̫̠̭͚̝̳̭̰̘̥̺̠̰̯ͭ͑ͪͧ̔ͯ͑͢͡͡n̨͛̄̊̈́̏ͬ̽̚҉̟̜̜̠̭̣̙̳͔̠̭͍̲̼͖̹ ̶̷̷̵̲̜̹̠ͣ̍͛̏ͮ͛͌̉ͩ̓ͤͣ͆̎̍̒̚t̶̨͈̼͔̯̣̹̭̹͙̠̦̜̖̦͍͗̈́́̀͐͊̄ͤͭ̋̎̚͘͠ḩ̵̸̨̣̲͓͖̝̲̖͖̣͇̽̑̌̐ͬe̎͂̊̍̌ͨ̈ͭ̿̀ͥ̋ͩ͑̀͏̲͕̠̺̗̝͙̘̜̤͉̭̪̪̭͢͜ ̸̪͍̖̠̟̟̩̦̫̭̂̓̓̋͛̀͑ͧ͟͟͠ͅv̵̴̛̙̝̱͈̍̂ͪͪ͆̈́ͫ̒ͪ̒̔͆͞ͅo̵̵͇̘̮̤̙̤̭͐̋̏ͬ̊̐͂̂͑̎ͧ̾̊ͮͭ͢͠ͅi̜̙̥̬̹͓̯͙͈̬̺̜̮ͪ̍ͨ͆ͪ̄̅ͪͭ̃̈́͑́̀d̢̠͔̙͓͉̤̺̫̙̟̞̯̬͍̲̮͉̫ͪ̔̊!̛ͧ̈̉̈ͩ̾̒̍̿́̿̇̋̉ͤ̋̓͌͢͏҉̲̥͈̪̬̺͓̜̰̻̗͚̮ͅ Z͙͙̳̯̠ͨ̅́̕͡a̴͔͖͔̜̞̩̜ͫ̈ͭ̎͛ͧ͜l̨̨̮̺̘̻͔̙̿ͨͪ͒̚ġ̻͍̱̹̪̼̦ͩ̋̂ͮ̇̏̚͡o̲̎̏̈̉̿ͧ!̃̏̋ͨ͂̎ͭ͏̦̲̖̯͍̤ All I see now is blonde, brunette, redhead. > [@Gyrate](#): > > Same here (IE8). **Crazyhorse** ’s post looks like a game of Missile Command. Good metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/25 "2014-02-27T11:54:16Z")
I get vertical lines of diacritics in IE, and angled ones in FF and Chrome. There are differences in how stuff is displayed horizontally between browsers too. ( **Jragon** ’s thing also displays differently in IE to how it does in FF and Chrome.) Has anyone tried Safari or Opera? Apparently it happens under Android, as well as Windows 7 and 8 . Ha anyone tried on an Apple machine? If I copy and paste to Notepad or Word, I just get a couple of diacritics above each character, not the long lines. So is this a browser issue, or what? Is it the sort of bug that has the potential to be exploited by hackers? ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/26 "2014-02-27T12:42:14Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I get vertical lines of diacritics in IE, and angled ones in FF and Chrome. There are differences in how stuff is displayed horizontally between browsers too. ( **Jragon** ’s thing also displays differently in IE to how it does in FF and Chrome.) Has anyone tried Safari or Opera? Apparently it happens under Android, as well as Windows 7 and 8 . Ha anyone tried on an Apple machine? > > If I copy and paste to Notepad or Word, I just get a couple of diacritics above each character, not the long lines. > > So is this a browser issue, or what? Is it the sort of bug that has the potential to be exploited by hackers? As noted above, it’s not happening on Chrome on XP machines, and also not on Safari on an iPad, but it is happening across browsers on Win 7 and later(I guess nobody run Vista anymore, so there’s no feedback). It’s unlikely to be a browser issue. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/27 "2014-02-27T12:43:45Z")
There’s a Twitter account called [Glitchr](https://twitter.com/glitchr_) that makes heavy use of these characters to screw with people’s Twitter feeds. They are Unicode characters called combining diacritical marks, and as others have said, they are supposed to go above and below the previous character in order to create composite characters that are not in the character set themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/28 "2014-02-27T13:36:57Z")
Happening on Android Dolphin browser as well. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/29 "2014-02-27T16:30:34Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Were you saying that these posted characters are “flawed” in the sense that too many/wrong diacritics are in there … ? Yes. I started composing a long post containing more than you’d ever want to know about Thai script and some computer implementations, but will instead just answer the question … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/30 "2014-02-27T16:59:38Z")
Can I suggest that a moderator edit the original subject line so we don’t have this annoyance in the thread listings? And perhaps make it a fixed policy to do so? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/31 "2014-02-27T17:39:57Z")
**Moderator Note** I removed the characters from the title since it gave the impression of some sort of rendering error to some and some others have found it annoying. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/32 "2014-02-27T19:11:54Z")
More tests, all Android: Firefox - diagonal, same as Windows. Dolphin - all looks normal with no corruption, except **Jragon** ’s post #22. Silk - diagonals, now with some verticals. Some diagonals are topped with verticals. Post #22 still looks weird, but it no longer spills out to the right and so the page is normal width. Tapatalk - similar to Dolphin, not sure if that means more or less Unicode support. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/33 "2014-02-28T13:29:15Z")
Every time I view the page, I get a different effect. I went back up to the OP to taken another look at the X-shaped diagonals, and it was gone. I clidked on [quote] to see what the original looked like, and the X was within the quote box. When i back-arrowed out, and looked at the whole forum content, the big X was there, again, spreading out into the margins of my view, and all the way up through the forum display toolbar. Vista, Firefox. Editing – now, its gone again, except just above the two left odd characters. Bur when I refreshed, the whole X came back, covering the whole frame. > [@teddybound](#): > > any dopers can share what characters are these? > > how come they corrupt the screen when displayed? > > ค้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้้ ฏ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํํ There is what thw quote field looks like ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/34 "2014-02-28T13:35:58Z")
Re: the above. The effect sometimes goes away, just by scrolling up the screen and back down, then comes back again. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/35 "2014-02-28T13:52:36Z")
I copy/pasted the two Thai characters into Google Translate, and the following apeared in the blank space beneath the message box in Google Translate: Kĥ̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂̂ T̩ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ̊̊̊̊̊̊̊̊̊̊̊̊ the ฏ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ํํํํํํํํํํํํ ---
**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:** [March 2, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/36 "2014-03-02T21:46:02Z")
This has to be a rendering error, right? Surely the actual Unicode specification would be to only display a fixed number of combing marks, depending on how many you actually used. There isn’t actually Unicode that indicates an varying number of marks, right? That would just be stupid. But I’m having trouble of thinking of what possible legitimate specification would have this weirdness as a side effect. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/37 "2014-03-03T03:20:34Z")
> [@bigt](#): > > this has to be a rendering error, right? Surely the actual unicode specification would be to only display a fixed number of combing marks, depending on how many you actually used. There isn’t actually unicode that indicates an varying number of marks, right? That would just be stupid. > > But i’m having trouble of thinking of what possible legitimate specification would have this weirdness as a side effect. I’d call it a rendering error, though it can be argued that display of ill-formed diacritical marks need not be defined. The rendering anomaly doesn’t appear in Notepad. I may as well describe the symptom a bit. The following (pronounced _choo chii chii_) means “The lover points to the nun.” ชู้ชี้ชี (I’ve used a large font so that this can be seen more clearly.) **Note that the _mai tho_ – the uppermost symbol which looks vaguely like a check mark – is elevated in the second word.** It needs to be elevated because a vowel symbol is occupying its usual position. (Elevation is not necessary in the first word where the vowel appears _under_ the consonant.) Thus the context determines where the symbol (in this case, the _mai tho_ tone mark) needs to be placed. Unicode has other combining symbols whose displayed location depends on context. An umlaut (Unicode decimal 776) is placed higher after a capital-U than after a small-u; however duplicated umlauts do not lead to false positionings in the Chrome browser. (And anyway, most European diacriticals are invoked via a single font element, rather than using combining characters.) That answers your question; the remainder of this post is TL;DR. Here is the Unicode which could be typed to produce that sentence, and definitions of its words. (I’ve left spaces after each # so that the Unicode doesn’t get interpreted. &# 3594;&# 3637; – nun &# 3594;&# 3637;&# 3657; – to indicate &# 3594;&# 3641;&# 3657; – adulterous lover &# 3594;&# 3637;&# 3657;&# 3657; (an impossible word with an illegal redundant tone mark) &# 3594;&# 3641;&# 3594;&# 3637;&# 3657;&# 3594;&# 3637;&# 3594;&# 3637;&# 3657;&# 3657; Here’s the same thing without the spaces after the #. ชี[SIZE=“2”] – nun ชี้ – to indicate ชู้ – adulterous lover ชี้้ (an impossible word with an illegal redundant tone mark) ชู้ชี้ชีชี้้[/SIZE] Computer implementations of Thai script 30+ years ago were quite clumsy. Some systems used four lines for one line of text: lines for (1) tone marks, (2) above vowels, (3) consonants and left-right vowels, (4) below vowels. With this system, a 24-line PC monitor could display only 6 lines of Thai text. An innovation was to provide a special font element for each combination of above-vowel and tone mark to get the Thai text to use only 3 lines. (Another way was to use the same line for tone marks as for the below-vowels of the preceding line, with a forced format change upon collision.) All these methods were quite clumsy. Thai typewriters had a similar problem, with tone marks appearing at a fixed location _high enough to leave room for an above vowel_. All of these systems were useless for quality documents: for one thing, _when NOT required by an above vowel_, it is unaesthetic to place the tone mark too high. Thus, the implementation of Unicode combining characters is a huge improvement. The cascading of tone marks in words that are anyway illegal, may as well be considered a feature rather than bug! ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377/38 "2014-03-03T06:08:29Z")
Yeah, you can find out more by searching “stacked diacritics”. The funny thing is, FF knows about this, but refuses to fix it, saying it’s up to web pages to be well designed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-characters-edited-title/682377.md?page=1)