# What's faster, your printing or your cursive **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787 "2011-09-10T03:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/41 "2011-09-11T15:22:09Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Cursive simply involves a lot of effort for little return. After all, what is there to use cursive _for_? People all type now; if you are going to concentrate on a skill, you’ll get much more out of typing than cursive. And both printing and typing are much more legible than cursive, as well. What’s it FOR?!? :eek::mad: _grumble, grumble, young punks, mutter, grumble_ ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/42 "2011-09-11T15:36:38Z")
Cursive, and it’s legible. My classmates always asked to borrow my notes if they missed a class because they were clearer than most people’s. One thing I’ve decided thanks to these threads on the SDMB: I’m going to teach my future children and their friends how to write in cursive so that they can pass notes to each other in class and when they are intercepted by people who never learned it, the contents of the notes will stay secret! It’ll be better than the Enigma machine. Or something. Seriously, I never quite understood why people would be proud of having illegible handwriting and/or not knowing what is a rather basic skill. I guess I just don’t feel that having taken a bit of time as a kid to learn how to write in cursive was such a huge burden on my life. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/43 "2011-09-11T18:07:07Z")
My cursive is faster than my printing, but my printing is more legible. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/44 "2011-09-12T13:46:50Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > What’s it FOR?!? :eek::mad: > > _grumble, grumble, young punks, mutter, grumble_ I’m over 40 - we young punks are getting old fast it seems… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/45 "2011-09-12T13:58:59Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I have forgotten cursive, with a little luck I might be able to make it through the alphabet, but it would take a while. Same here. I stopped using cursive somewhere in Junior High school. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/46 "2011-09-12T15:40:01Z")
Another vote for “Cursive takes longer because I have to remember how to make the characters.” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/47 "2011-09-12T15:52:51Z")
I’m 35 and I still write way faster in cursive, and still write in it fairly often. I’d definitely write faster in cursive. I can print, but it takes longer to make each letter individual. When they all run together I can write a word without lifting my pen from the paper. And I don’t intend to forget it. Why would I voluntarily let a skill go? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/48 "2011-09-12T15:53:16Z")
My fastest writing is an amalgam of print and cursive. It’s pretty legible. If I had to choose one though, cursive is faster. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/49 "2011-09-13T13:28:54Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’m over 40 - we young punks are getting old fast it seems… 😃 _snort_ Clinton was president when I was over 40, you whippersnapper. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/50 "2011-09-13T15:28:33Z")
My cursive is so bad I gave up writing in it decades ago. I print everything. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/51 "2011-09-13T16:34:45Z")
The question puzzles me a bit, as it implies that the choices are either (a) laboriously writing each character separately, lifting the pen off the paper between each one, or (b) laboriously drawing elaborate, loop-laden copperplate-style “cursive” letterforms. If I’m writing by hand, I use ordinary “joined-up writing”, which is both fairly quick and reasonably legible. It’s loosely based on the handwriting we were taught at school (in the UK) but has evolved over time (and got messier). [Sample here](http://i53.tinypic.com/296gl5t.jpg). Would you call that “printing” or “cursive”? ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/52 "2011-09-13T22:51:53Z")
I think we need a term for the handwriting of doctors, it’s sure as hell not printing, cursive or legible!🙂 ---
**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:** [September 14, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/53 "2011-09-14T14:41:41Z")
I can technically write faster in cursive, but if I want to make it good enough where other people can read it, then I definitely print faster. I remember back in early grade school, right after we learned cursive. My writing slowed down so much that I usually couldn’t finish assignments in time. My teachers at that school would overemphasize good handwriting, to the point where I had made it the most important thing. Later, when I moved to public school, I gave up on looking good, as getting assignments in on time mattered a whole lot more. I mean, if you didn’t miss more than four assignments for a quarter, you got a pizza party! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/54 "2011-09-14T14:58:40Z")
My printing. Because the first time I ran across the letter Q in cursive, I’d have to first look up how to do it, and then practice it for a half an hour before I could pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/55 "2011-09-14T16:23:44Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > My printing. Because the first time I ran across the letter Q in cursive, I’d have to first look up how to do it, and then practice it for a half an hour before I could pull it off. See, this is precisely what I mean. Just because you don’t want to write a “Q” that looks like a curly “2” doesn’t mean you have to “print”. Just write in a normal joined-up fashion! ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/56 "2011-09-14T16:27:46Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Both are illegible, but I print everything but my signature. So print wins by default. I don’t think King Tut could read my cursive. This, 100%. My handwriting has always been awful so I compensate by using the computer for everything. As a result my handwriting gets worse. It’s now to the point where half the time _I_ can’t tell what I’ve written down. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/57 "2011-09-14T16:28:51Z")
I can’t vote, because my handwriting is a combination of the two. ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/58 "2011-09-14T18:00:45Z")
I print 90% of the time due to my drafting background. Cursive is much faster and easier on my hands though. 90% of the time I’m _writing_ that is. I type as often as possible. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/59 "2011-09-15T15:17:49Z")
Cursive. However, it may or may not be intelligible to anyone but me :). I’ve noticed that my signature, when making credit card purchases, has now degraded to something like “Man… Z…\_\_\_\_”. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787/60 "2011-09-15T15:30:22Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Cursive. However, it may or may not be intelligible to anyone but me :). > > I’ve noticed that my signature, when making credit card purchases, has now degraded to something like “Man… Z…\_\_\_\_”. My signature only ever consists of my three initials, followed by the loop of a “g” and a “t” that extends into a horizontal line. There’s no way you could tell what my surname is from reading it, but signatures don’t have to be legible, just repeatable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-faster-your-printing-or-your-cursive/595787.md?page=4)