# The lowercase d and b: in transition or something?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494 "2006-11-15T06:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/1 "2006-11-15T06:20:16Z")
So a couple weeks ago I was walking through the subway station and found myself surrounded by posters for a company that, as best I can tell, is supposed to be known as “basics”… except that the “b” was rendered very oddly, more like a “d” except with a curvier stem. If you haven’t seen it, I dont know how to describe it, but it does “work”, in the sense that the brain processes the odd-looking symbol as a “b”. (Context?) Then, this past weekend, I was out for a walk and kept seeing ads for a new movie named, as best (dest?) I can tell, “dragon”, except that the “d” was rendered more as an “e”. eragon. The scaly critter with the tail and other dragonesque accoutrements convinces me it’s supposed to be dragon. So…what qives? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/2 "2006-11-15T06:23:09Z")
Sorry, I’m not quite sure what you’re talking about, but I think the movie you’re referring to is actually called [Eragon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449010/), not Dragon. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@The\_Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/3 "2006-11-15T07:34:44Z")
Did the b in basics look like [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_%28letter%29)? ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/4 "2006-11-15T07:38:01Z")
The company was probably [asics](http://www.asicsamerica.com/). ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/5 "2006-11-15T10:26:23Z")
that logo annoys the crap out of me. like, a truly unreasonable amount. it just looks so obviously like it says d asics and like it should say basics and not at all like it’s just asics with an unneccessary spiraly thing in front of it. get a better logo, asics! I hate you! ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/6 "2006-11-15T15:52:02Z")
OK, so it was asics and it really was eragon. I don’t know if that vindicates me or makes me look like a blithering idiot! ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/7 "2006-11-15T16:05:38Z")
You probably can’t name any top ten music hits right now either. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/8 "2006-11-16T14:45:47Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] You probably can’t name any top ten music hits right now either. [/QUOTE] Which makes him incredibly intelligent and discerning. I’ve never known what to do with the asics thing, either. Is is a d or a b or what? blech. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/9 "2006-11-16T20:08:50Z")
It’s the [Unicode Character ‘PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL’ (U+2202)](http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2202/index.htm), which is derived from the lower case Greek delta. So it looks like a fancy “d” to me. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/10 "2006-11-16T20:19:01Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] OK, so it was asics and it really was eragon. I don’t know if that vindicates me or makes me look like a blithering idiot! [/QUOTE] Either way, it amused the hell out of me. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/11 "2006-11-16T21:12:54Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] OK, so it was asics and it really was eragon. I don’t know if that vindicates me or makes me look like a blithering idiot! [/QUOTE] I’d go with dlithering ibiot. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/12 "2006-11-16T21:20:00Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] I’ve never known what to do with the asics thing, either. Is is a d or a b or what? blech. [/QUOTE] The Asics logo is a stylised letter ‘a’. ‘A’ for Asics. They put it on their goods when they don’t have the space to write the whole name, but they’ve also included it in their corporate logo so that people will recognise the symbol. It’s like the nike ‘swish’. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/13 "2006-11-16T21:57:26Z")
Winner. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/14 "2006-11-16T21:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] I’d go with dlithering ibiot. [/QUOTE] Winner Sigh… this damn post probably went through the first time without the quote attached, didn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/15 "2006-11-16T22:02:51Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] Winner Sigh… this damn post probably went through the first time without the quote attached, didn’t it? [/QUOTE] That’s OK. It’s the sort of thing we expect around here from dlithering ibiots. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/16 "2006-11-16T22:10:09Z")
[QUOTE=Sierra Indigo] The Asics logo is a stylised letter ‘a’. ‘A’ for Asics. They put it on their goods when they don’t have the space to write the whole name, but they’ve also included it in their corporate logo so that people will recognise the symbol. It’s like the nike ‘swish’. [/QUOTE] Then they shouldn’t put it right before the word Asics, the same size as the letters. If Nike was that dumb, people would be asking about the weird “JNIKE” signs they saw in the subway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/17 "2006-11-16T22:19:39Z")
**AHunter3** , you are not alone. You actually cleared a couple of puzzling anomolies up for me. To others, however, I suspect that I now look like a blithering idiot too. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/18 "2006-11-17T00:23:12Z")
[QUOTE=DanBlather] dlithering ibiot [/QUOTE] Any lurkers considering membership, there’s a fantastic screen name just waiting to be picked here. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/19 "2006-11-17T02:00:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sierra Indigo] It’s like the nike ‘swish’. [/QUOTE] Ahem. It’s a “swoosh”, not a “swish”. Cite from Nike website Terms of Use: “All trademarks, service marks and trade names of NIKE used in the website (including but not limited to the NIKE name, the **Swoosh** Design and the Basketball Player Silhouette (“Jumpman”) Design) are trademarks or registered trademarks of NIKE, Inc.” ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494/20 "2006-11-17T02:27:12Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] Ahem. It’s a “swoosh”, not a “swish”. Cite from Nike website Terms of Use: “All trademarks, service marks and trade names of NIKE used in the website (including but not limited to the NIKE name, the **Swoosh** Design and the Basketball Player Silhouette (“Jumpman”) Design) are trademarks or registered trademarks of NIKE, Inc.” [/QUOTE] _shrug_ Count me educated then. I didn’t say I wore the things, just that the two logos were compatible in function. If you see the swish/swoosh/swash icon, you think “Nike”. Same with the stylised ‘a’, it’s shorthand for Asics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lowercase-d-and-b-in-transition-or-something/380494.md?page=2)