# Wingdings humor? -- or, this has GOT to be deliberate. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 10, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029 "2010-03-10T21:03:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/1 "2010-03-10T21:03:14Z")
I noticed just now that if you set your character map to Wingdings and look carefully at the first row of symbols, you get three items that cannot possibly have been placed in that particular order by accident. A bell, a book, and a candle. Mundane and pointless, but I MUST share this. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/2 "2010-03-10T21:16:32Z")
…I don’t get it? A bell, a book, and a candle? Is this like a rhebus puzzle? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/3 "2010-03-10T21:18:12Z")
Its “Magic”. Or the title to an old movie. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/4 "2010-03-10T21:19:03Z")
Excommunication? That’s all I’ve got, maybe need to go re-read some conspiracy books. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/5 "2010-03-10T21:26:04Z")
Let’s ask [this user](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php). ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/6 "2010-03-10T22:07:35Z")
Pretty cool - I never would have noticed that. On a semi-related note, [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/wingdings.asp) has an article debunking alleged anti-Semitic patterns in wingdings. For example, “NYC” in wingdings comes out as a skull and crossbones, followed by a Star of David, then by a hand giving the “thumbs up” sign. Spooky coincidence, but surely a coincidence all the same, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/7 "2010-03-10T22:07:41Z")
Or you could type “NYC” and convert it to wingdings for [maximum anti-semiticness](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingdings#Controversy). Microsoft has already said the Wingdings character map was “largely random”. Obviously some things(like up arrows next to down arrows) were not, but seeing other patterns are largely a result of the [human tendancy to see patterns everywhere](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=patternicity-finding-meaningful-patterns). Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/8 "2010-03-10T22:23:22Z")
See obligatory [Wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell,_book_and_candle) for further info. To sum up, though, it’s a phrase connected with the rite of excommunication as practiced by the Church in the Middle Ages. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wingdings-humor-or-this-has-got-to-be-deliberate/532029/9 "2010-03-11T15:05:13Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > See obligatory [Wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell,_book_and_candle) for further info. To sum up, though, it’s a phrase connected with the rite of excommunication as practiced by the Church in the Middle Ages. Of course, Unca Cece’s true believers prefer the following link: [How do I go about getting excommunicated?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1164/how-do-i-go-about-getting-excommunicated)