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January 20, 2019 2:03 PM   Subscribe

 
7.
posted by Fizz at 2:04 PM on January 20, 2019 [12 favorites]


Number 7 over here, never even considered any other possibility.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:04 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]


5
posted by Valancy Rachel at 2:07 PM on January 20, 2019 [7 favorites]


another 7, and considering those other configurations is making my hand hurt a little bit
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:07 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


You are a pod person.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:07 PM on January 20, 2019


There's no option for mathematicians?

(Ok I suppose it's capitalised so I'd go 7)
posted by edd at 2:09 PM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]


From the same twitter account (@SMASEY) “General consensus is that Americans do 7 & 8 while UK does 5 & 6. Probably how we were taught. Not sure about other countries”
posted by Fizz at 2:09 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


Righty with an 8. Puts me in the best position for next letter imo. Also similar to a disconnected Greek alpha, which I wrote a lot in college (the last time I wrote a lot). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by supercres at 2:10 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


#5.

I am North American, have never lived in or even visited the UK, and yet apparently the way I do it is distinctly UKish. Shrug?
posted by nightrecordings at 2:11 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


Consistent with other capital letters: starting as close to the upper right for the first stroke. Other strokes with vertical components also start from the top.

In other words: 7.
posted by darkstar at 2:11 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


When in L.A., with fire.
posted by gwint at 2:12 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


I honestly can't recall observing anyone in the UK do 5/6, although it's not something I've paid much attention to. Other half is an 8er and likewise can't think of any time they've observed 5/6.
posted by edd at 2:12 PM on January 20, 2019


darkstar: but 7 starts in the top left?
posted by edd at 2:15 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


Another 7. Although the combined stroke makes a sort of delta if I don't raise the pen.
posted by aspersioncast at 2:15 PM on January 20, 2019


There's no option for mathematicians?

I'm a mathematician and I'm a 7.
posted by escabeche at 2:16 PM on January 20, 2019


There's no option for mathematicians?

Just solve for x
posted by Fizz at 2:19 PM on January 20, 2019 [19 favorites]


I learned to write all my letters from the bottom up, so I’m a #6.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 2:19 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


What I do is, first I draw a square, starting from the bottom right corner and working counter-clockwise. Then, I shade in the square with my pencil. Then, I erase everything that isn't an "X."
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 2:19 PM on January 20, 2019 [24 favorites]


Consistent with other capital letters: starting as close to the upper right for the first stroke. Other strokes with vertical components also start from the top.

In other words: 7.





Agh..I mean upper LEFT to start, as with most capital letters. :P
posted by darkstar at 2:20 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


I was taught 7 growing up in America, but at some point after moving to japan I switched over to 8 due to the influence of how Japanese text is written
posted by DoctorFedora at 2:20 PM on January 20, 2019


American, right-handed, 7 over here. I feel like the vast majority of the time I employ downward strokes and left-to-right strokes. It's rare that I write in the other directions unless I'm writing in cursive which involves a lot of upward strokes.
posted by acidnova at 2:21 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


6, north american, righty
posted by salt grass at 2:21 PM on January 20, 2019


I do 3. I suspect that must be a lefty thing.
posted by Alex404 at 2:21 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


><

not really, 7
posted by solotoro at 2:22 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


I'm a 7 as well.
However, I once saw an acquaintance draw an x in an entirely different way. Not sure of the stroke order, but instead of using two straight lines he drew a c and reverse c back-to-back: " ↄc ". I found it entirely charming.
posted by What is E. T. short for? at 2:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


Right handed, British schooling in Hong Kong, 5. Leaves you in the best spot to slur the pen into the next letter (all letters start at the top-left/top).
posted by Dysk at 2:23 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


Me, UK, did 6. though I think it might do 5 sometimes.

Called my SO (UK) in, handed her the pen, 'draw an X'. Backwards c, forward c, back to back.
posted by biffa at 2:24 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


(And I definitely do back-to-back Cs in maths contexts)
posted by Dysk at 2:24 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]



posted by inflatablekiwi at 2:25 PM on January 20, 2019 [8 favorites]


My wife and I are both #7 (both righties).
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:25 PM on January 20, 2019


We need to divide bitterly into even more subgroups.

Divide my pretties!!!
posted by inflatablekiwi at 2:28 PM on January 20, 2019 [10 favorites]


8 (uk, righty) but I often do them in cursive too, so only one twisty line :-)
posted by rivets at 2:29 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


I do 8. Grew up in Sweden, schooling in Sweden and the US. It feels so wrong to try to do it any other way...
posted by gemmy at 2:32 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


Definitely a 5. Grew up in India.
posted by peacheater at 2:33 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


#8, US righty
posted by cooker girl at 2:39 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


I'm wondering if all the people who are saying they do 7 really tried it to see or if some of you are just thinking that's how you do it. I would have guessed I do 7 but when I actually picked up a pen and tried it I found I do 8. The idea that there are people who start at the bottom is really weird to me.
posted by Redstart at 2:40 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


German and a 5. Which is, of course, the correct way.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 2:42 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


My husband does #7 (US righty as well) and I made him draw it out for me. 7's don't start at the bottom, unless you just meant all the ones that do, in which case: yes, it's completely foreign to me too!
posted by cooker girl at 2:42 PM on January 20, 2019


No, I totally switched topics in my last sentence. I know 7's don't start at the bottom.
posted by Redstart at 2:44 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


Now that I'm thinking about this, I don't start any letter with an upward stroke (though some start sideways and go down). Seems totally unnatural.
posted by runcibleshaw at 2:44 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


Team 7!
posted by carter at 2:48 PM on January 20, 2019


8...US righty
posted by kokaku at 2:50 PM on January 20, 2019


I'm a 7.

What is E. T. short for?: However, I once saw an acquaintance draw an x in an entirely different way. Not sure of the stroke order, but instead of using two straight lines he drew a c and reverse c back-to-back: " ↄc ". I found it entirely charming.

That's probably just the Palmer Method cursive.
posted by sukeban at 2:51 PM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]


I just had a hunch about this, so I pulled out a few calligraphy books I have. As far as I can tell every sans serif 'x' I can find is written like #7.

Ooh, actually I just found one called 'Carolingian' that does 'x' like #5, but the vast majority are 7's.
posted by runcibleshaw at 2:53 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


Having just drawn a bunch of Xs, I do 5 if I'm writing a horizontal row of Xs, 7 if I'm writing a vertical column of Xs. Probably 5 if I'm just writing a single X?
posted by JiBB at 2:55 PM on January 20, 2019


My kids had writing practice books when they were small, with numbered arrows to show you the order and direction of the lines. I'd be surprised if it didn't teach method 7. I know that's what I use, although I don't think I was ever explicitly taught. UK, by the way.
posted by pipeski at 2:55 PM on January 20, 2019


Not sure of the stroke order, but instead of using two straight lines he drew a c and reverse c back-to-back: " ↄc ". I found it entirely charming.

I learned to do it this way in algebra, but only use that 'x' for math. Otherwise I do 7.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:56 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


If I was using a brush, 5 is the most natural movement
posted by The Whelk at 2:58 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


5. UK, leftie. Having a 'standing/sitting to wipe' moment right now - never occured to me anyone would do it any other way...
posted by penguin pie at 3:02 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


Lefty, 8. Same way I write kanji.
posted by SPrintF at 3:03 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


So this is the new how-do-you-draw-a-circle, then?
posted by rokusan at 3:03 PM on January 20, 2019


My right-handed child draws small Rs starting at the right end of the arc and finishing with the straight line at the left, with in one line, which is backwards to me. Does this mean that she has carried this over from a previous life as a leftie?
posted by waving at 3:07 PM on January 20, 2019


I practiced a bit of calligraphy as a kid, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's where I learned 7 as the normal way to write 'x' as a letter or as a multiplication sign. But this conversation made me realize that when I write italic 'x', as in solve-for-x, I write it using method 5.

Like many blackboard/whiteboard users I have a whole system of hand fonts for distinguishing ell from iota from one from solidus from bar, and other such letters and symbols. Mostly picked up from various teachers over the years. Probably picked up method 5 'x' somewhere that same way.
posted by traveler_ at 3:15 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


#5: American, righty, self-taught on workbooks (so I hold my hand like a lefty)

I also use Graffiti (from the Palm Pilot) as my default Android keyboard. It accepts both #5 & #7 to write an "X".
posted by cheshyre at 3:22 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


My son is a 2. He’s the only person I know who draws his letters starting from the bottom. Always has.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 3:26 PM on January 20, 2019


Number 7 as well. I was just explaining to my son yesterday how learning Chinese and the correct stroke order for 口 has forever altered the way I draw boxes.
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:29 PM on January 20, 2019


Now that I have been presented with all these alternatives, I don't know what to do. To me, 1 to 4 feels unnatural, while the rest seem like what I might alternate between when I'm not thinking about it, with 7 and 8 being more likely than 5, and 6 being the least likely. And I'm not even sure about that.

I'm right-handed and Canadian.

The way I learned how to do 'x'-s for algebra was to do 7, but to make the first stroke a double curve -- so that the end result looked like isolated cursive.
posted by redrawturtle at 3:31 PM on January 20, 2019


I find 8 to be more efficient since it finishes on the baseline and closest to the next character...
posted by jim in austin at 3:43 PM on January 20, 2019


5, UK, RH. Must now ask all the people ... (by which I do not mean a referendum. Just the people I know. And can ask.)
posted by paduasoy at 3:50 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


OK, so I'm doing some writing right now and I just went to confirm whether I'm a 7 or an 8 and frankly now I have no idea. They both feel equally natural and now I can't do it without thinking about doing it.

I am so confused.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:51 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


Three out of 4 people in my household (all righties) do 8. (The other does 7, and she also stands with her left leg on a scooter and prefers going clockwise when she skates.) I watched my husband do 8 and then when I was telling him that most Mefites were saying they did 7 and showed it to him, he said that was what he did. He had to pick up the pen again and let muscle memory take over before he was convinced that he really did 8. So I still suspect some of the 7's are really 8's.
posted by Redstart at 3:53 PM on January 20, 2019


I found a couple of educational resources online. This thing from My Teaching Station, which I think is American, looks like either 7 or 8. This one (no source) is 7.
posted by paduasoy at 4:02 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


I'm a 7. But: I can write upside down, a skill I've gotten a lot of practice in since the school where I teach math has whiteboard-surfaced desks and I often write things to students while facing them across the table. Apparently I accomplish this by doing what my hand would do if I were writing from the student's side, because when I try to write an "X" upside down, I automatically do a 1 (even though I could do my normal 7 and get the same result).
posted by aws17576 at 4:04 PM on January 20, 2019


A brief test suggests I do one, five, and three, seemingly at random.
posted by rodlymight at 4:05 PM on January 20, 2019


5, North America, right handed.

And that's a pretty amazing post title. Why are those even characters?
posted by paper chromatographologist at 4:05 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


They both feel equally natural and now I can't do it without thinking about doing it.

After I started thinking about it too much I had to trick myself into doing it without thinking by saying to myself, "a b c, x y z" and writing them at the same time, fast.
posted by Redstart at 4:10 PM on January 20, 2019


7, but, when I’m writing kanji with an “x-like” element, it’s mostly an 8, because of the stroke order I’ve learned.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:11 PM on January 20, 2019


Another 6 from a North American righty.
posted by Pryde at 4:34 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


8, right handed, in Canada.

Why are those even characters?

This post's title reminds of...

Your Logo Is Not Hardcore

I swear that was a post somewhere on Metafilter a while back, but I can't seem to find it.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:37 PM on January 20, 2019


Do we need another North American right-handed person saying 7? OK, fine. 7.
posted by greermahoney at 4:42 PM on January 20, 2019


A: I love you guys and I normally am onboard with threads that explore similar ideas but this time I'm kinda like, it really doesn't matter? I admit it is likely a failure of my own imagination, but I truly don't understand what difference this makes or what the stroke order of a symmetrical two-stroke symbol says about us as people. The sensation I get is from this "viral event" is similar what I feel from viewing the TV content in the Fahrenheit 451 movie.

2) Props on the thread title for apt unicode deployment.

III. Since I'm here, I do mine like 5 but it's really just one stroke; A loop topologically like ➰ but I pick up the nib for the lower arc of the loop.
posted by glonous keming at 4:43 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


Well, now I have no idea.
posted by MrVisible at 4:54 PM on January 20, 2019


7 if cursive, 8 otherwise

so 8
posted by hyperbolic at 5:08 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


After writing an x, I am also 7. Printed and cursive.

I also put a line through my Z and 7, though.
posted by Ruki at 5:16 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


Seems I bounce between 7 and 8, depending on what I’m writing.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:21 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


This is a classic "What? Doesn't everyone do it like I do?"
So I'm shocked that most don't do version 8.
posted by cccorlew at 5:21 PM on January 20, 2019


Am I confused? It appears the instagram key doesn't match icon order in the post. I used the post for my answer.
posted by cccorlew at 5:24 PM on January 20, 2019


US right handed--7, face front, sit to wipe, silverware up, right over left, use a top sheet
posted by BlueHorse at 5:44 PM on January 20, 2019 [5 favorites]


I was looking at the title and wondering what sorts of monsters you are, and then read 'colored line' and had to click the link to realize the title to this post doesn't match the graphic.

Was going to say 4, but looking at the chart. 8.
posted by symbioid at 5:56 PM on January 20, 2019


5, but I use nonstandard stroke order for pretty much every letter
posted by Pyry at 5:58 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


7, and I make the first stroke a double curve if it's x, a real number, but straight if it's 'x', a letter.
posted by egregious theorem at 6:01 PM on January 20, 2019


8? 7? Blue? Gold?
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:03 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


7 or 8, depending. US, sit-to-wipe, stand to pee (at the far bowl/water confluence), no top sheet.
posted by a halcyon day at 6:19 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


7, lefty, studied calligraphy.
And I've recently started adding a vertical line through my sevens, because why not?
Maybe this is a call for everyone to start doing "bottom up" printing. Cursive is no longer taught in some schools. No one uses a typewriter. Books are on Kindles. The world is changing in odd ways.
And my Q has always looked like a Q in cursive. I refuse to make them like a 2, that's weird.
posted by TrishaU at 6:22 PM on January 20, 2019


And I've recently started adding a vertical line through my sevens, because why not?

A vertical line? That's a new one by me. I still do horizontal dashes through my sevens to make it damn clear they aren't overgrown ones, despite the fact that it seems to confuse a lot of people here in the UK.
posted by Dysk at 6:30 PM on January 20, 2019


7 for regular script X/x's. In maths, 7 is also how I do my times symbol and my uppercase X's; my lowercase x's are the back-to-back c types. (Australian, right-handed.)
posted by Panthalassa at 6:31 PM on January 20, 2019


But how do y'all make actual 8s? Single-Stroke or Stacked Circles?

Circles4Lyfe
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:38 PM on January 20, 2019


Leftie. Cursive and print. Usually fountain pens.

#7

Small line through 7s (but not zs).

Eights are one continuous loop starting at the top.
posted by MrGuilt at 7:15 PM on January 20, 2019


I am an 8, but I thought I was a 7 until I tried it. Of course to try it I had to write a word with x in the middle (I chose saxophone) because otherwise I don't think I would be able to do it naturally.

As for how I write 8s, I stack circles, but I think I changed from single stroke as an adult for aesthetic reasons.

Also:

III. Since I'm here, I do mine like 5 but it's really just one stroke; A loop topologically like ➰ but I pick up the nib for the lower arc of the loop.
posted by glonous keming


With a user name like that, I am not sure you are to be trusted here.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:17 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


8, lefty (hence the name), usually fountain pens.

Bonus: I write 8s as stacked circles because when I do them single-stroke people mistake them for 4s.
posted by gauche at 7:24 PM on January 20, 2019


ALSO: The internet is a great place to discover you have a deeply held opinion you will argue to your last breath about that you previously never gave even a first thought to.
posted by MrGuilt at 7:26 PM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]


7 for my uppercase X, \times, and \chi. Lowercase x gets rendered as )(, with both strokes starting at the top and the left one executed first (in all contexts).

But mostly, I just wanted to express my profound admiration of the post title.

Let's do nines next! Curly tail, or straight? One stroke or two? (Single-stroke curly here. The DC office of tax and revenue can tell you all about how that once got me into trouble when my 9 too closely resembled a 0.)
posted by Westringia F. at 7:29 PM on January 20, 2019


Single-stroke; I begin the loop where the straight tail should start, do the loop, and have it closed, then draw the tail.

My eights are either standing figure-eights or snowmen. Snowmen drawn with a single stroke. My writing hand is pretty inconsistent.

My sevens when unthinkingly done sometimes don't include the stroke; I make a point of including them. Except when I'm transcribing for a certain aged relative, who has trouble reading it.
posted by redrawturtle at 7:43 PM on January 20, 2019


5. Who the hell writes from right-to-left? Maniacs, that's who. Dangerous maniacs.

Also people who are differently-handed, and from dozens of other different global cultures.
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:12 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


7, US leftie.
posted by k8t at 8:13 PM on January 20, 2019


Husband learned Cyrillic first, which also has an X, he is right handed and is a 7.
posted by k8t at 8:14 PM on January 20, 2019


6 Canadian, right handed
posted by cirhosis at 8:19 PM on January 20, 2019


5, right hander, New Yorker (originally). Also: stander (unclear on the mechanics of the other option)
posted by gyusan at 8:30 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


I tried it out a bunch of times, and I definitely do 7. It’s the only one that (for me) ensures that the x ends up in the right place (lets you quickly line up the x’s expected height with the previous letter). Canadian, right-handed.
posted by mantecol at 8:35 PM on January 20, 2019


Who the hell writes from right-to-left? Maniacs, that's who. Dangerous maniacs.

Or speakers of Hebrew, Arabic...
posted by MrGuilt at 8:40 PM on January 20, 2019 [2 favorites]


As a member of the moral majority #7s, I shall miss my #5 wife and look forward to her swift return from ReXucation Camp.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:49 PM on January 20, 2019 [4 favorites]


I thought I'd be a 2, but I'm an 8, every time (USA, right-handed)
posted by Little Dawn at 8:56 PM on January 20, 2019


Best of helping AI the web.
posted by uosuaq at 9:06 PM on January 20, 2019


USA, right-handed, 8, which is a single curving line.
posted by bryon at 9:18 PM on January 20, 2019


#7 over here.
posted by Quackles at 9:26 PM on January 20, 2019


Team 7/8, right handed, USA
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:30 PM on January 20, 2019


English, living in France, 7 when writing in English and backwards lower case c then forward lower case c when writing in French, starting at the top of the c each time.
posted by ellieBOA at 10:11 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


Huh. 6. USian northpaw expat.
posted by St. Oops at 10:15 PM on January 20, 2019


I use type 5, and you should, too, because it works best from a handwriting point of view. (Assuming English here, because that's what we're writing.)

You need to start from the bottom left (most of the time?) and move to the right, so you go from lower left to upper right, then you lift your pen to come back down from the top left to the bottom right and continue with the next letter. If you aren't careful to lift your pen, you get a sort of bow.
posted by pracowity at 10:30 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


All right thinking people use 5!
posted by Justinian at 11:04 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


Exactly.
posted by pracowity at 11:20 PM on January 20, 2019


UPHOLD METHOD FIVE THOUGHT
posted by The Whelk at 11:27 PM on January 20, 2019 [3 favorites]


Marx X the spot!
posted by pracowity at 11:36 PM on January 20, 2019


⤩ too.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:52 PM on January 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold.
posted by pracowity at 11:57 PM on January 20, 2019


8 RH Rebellious-American
posted by a humble nudibranch at 12:12 AM on January 21, 2019


I just wrote “sexxy” on the wall with my finger (no paper and pen handy) and I am definitely 7. I’ve deliberately changed a few things about my handwriting over the years but I don’t think I’ve ever thought of doing an X any other way.

American righty.
posted by egypturnash at 12:15 AM on January 21, 2019


Also apparently the arrows used in the title of this post are from the wonderful Supplemental Arrows B section of Unicode, which includes gems like ⤊ and ⥈. And now I. Red to see if there is a Unicode symbols keyboard for iOS because I really need arrows like that in my social media.
posted by egypturnash at 12:22 AM on January 21, 2019


Anyone have a non-twitter link for this?
posted by starfishprime at 12:41 AM on January 21, 2019


This is beginning to feel like a missing chapter from Gullivers Travels...
posted by Faintdreams at 1:30 AM on January 21, 2019


Anyone have a non-twitter link for this?

Maybe this?
https://www.buzz.ie: POLL: What way do you write the letter X?
posted by pracowity at 2:06 AM on January 21, 2019


Thanks! Twitter will never, ever load...
posted by starfishprime at 2:29 AM on January 21, 2019


I genuinely write my (lower case) Xs like so: ><, only with curves rather than straight lines

This is cursive X erasure! Cursive x’s of the world unite.
posted by pharm at 2:35 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


7, UK, right-handed.
posted by faceplantingcheetah at 2:46 AM on January 21, 2019


I immediately said "7, obviously!" Then I became convinced I actually did 8, and now I think it's 7 again. I don't think I can actually know for sure unless someone sneakily records me doing it without thinking about it.

Backwards Cs for cursive x, which I consider to be a completely different glyph.
posted by confluency at 2:47 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


6.

Appears to be rare but I write most all my letters and numbers from the bottom up, starting at the bottom left if possible. American. Extremely right-handed.
posted by vacapinta at 3:01 AM on January 21, 2019


I've always had horrible handwriting and my teachers were always convinced that one of the many reasons was that I didn't always use the same movements to draw a character each time. It was always relative to the preceding character. For me I'm either a 5 or 6 depending on where the last character would have ended, or an 8 or 1 if I exited the last character with more velocity than normal.

My oddity is more pronounced with the lowercase i. If I ended the previous character towards the bottom then I draw the i starting from the bottom going up and then make the i dot mark at the top. If I started more towards the top then I make the i by making the long mark first starting at the top going down and then making the dot at the top. For the letter o, it varies from clockwise and counter clockwise, depending on the velocity and the start point can be either the top or bottom depending on the endpoint of the previous character.

Now I type everything, and everyone is much happier. SEE TEACHERS when I Grew up I would be able to type EVERYTHING, just like I SAID I WOULD.
posted by koolkat at 3:09 AM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]


6 FR left-handed - I was convinced it was going to be 7, picked a piece of paper and was astonished that it wasn't
posted by motdiem2 at 3:13 AM on January 21, 2019


I've been miming writing in the air for five minutes and I think I'm an 8 unless I'm writing cursive, at which point I'm 7. FWIW, I'm a leftie in the US.
posted by pemberkins at 4:12 AM on January 21, 2019


I always shade in 4 triangles and use the negative space.
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:15 AM on January 21, 2019


I'm also a back to back C's for lower case, so I had ignored this when I saw it before because it did not represent me.
But in trying out my upper case X's it's definitely a 5.

Surely you want to end up in the bottom right corner (or I suppose top right?) because that's where the next letter goes. Why are you all doing 7s? That's like 5 millimetres extra travel for your pen to do every time!
Do you know how inefficient that is!
That's probably going to be 8 or 9 seconds of additional pen travel time over your lifetime. Think what better things you could achieve if you did it properly.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:44 AM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]


Mostly 7, sometimes 5. US, right-handed.
posted by fuse theorem at 4:51 AM on January 21, 2019


That's probably going to be 8 or 9 seconds of additional pen travel time over your lifetime.

It depends how many kisses you send.
posted by pracowity at 5:11 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


I'm a reverse 4 (down from top right first, then up from bottom right). I write and draw left handed. Apparently I'm a weirdo.
posted by doctor_negative at 5:47 AM on January 21, 2019


I'm a reverse 4

So a 3 then?
posted by koolkat at 5:59 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


Mostly 6, also 5, sometimes 7, occasionally 8, all depending on context. Right handed, Australian. Very confused experience of learning handwriting, moving between multiple cursive systems with changes between schools. I may be the living embodiment of this conflict (at the least the proposed cross-Atlantic part).
posted by threecheesetrees at 6:03 AM on January 21, 2019


US, RH, fountain pen user. I do 7. My writing is a kind of bastardized self-taught italic hand and I use edged nibs (e.g., italic, cursive italic, stub, architect), both of which prefer downward strokes so you are "dragging" rather than "pushing" the nib. This only leaves 7 and 8 as possibilities, and I guess I do 7 because it makes more sense to me to start in the upper left corner. Those for whom Palmer Method-influenced cursive is a primary influence would probably be most comfortable starting with an upstroke from the bottom left.

FWIW, I cross my 7s and Zs with a horizontal stroke, my 8s as an analemma rather than stacked circles, my 6s are curly but my 9s are mostly straight.
posted by slkinsey at 6:12 AM on January 21, 2019


8, US lefty. A lot of my natural(?/learned) writing motions are counterclockwise and bottom-up; I struggled a lot with the Palmer method in school.
posted by cage and aquarium at 7:03 AM on January 21, 2019


I'm a reverse 4

So a 3 then?


Yeah, how did I miss that?
posted by doctor_negative at 7:57 AM on January 21, 2019


3, lefty.
posted by dmd at 8:01 AM on January 21, 2019


Oh that's really weird, I would have sworn that 7 is the "correct" way but when I picked up a pen and started doodling, 5 feels much more natural. I'm so confused now!

On further research, 7 is how I learned it in school (D'Nealian method!)
posted by beandip at 8:39 AM on January 21, 2019


I had no idea, so I just picked up a pen and did a couple hundred. (US -RH)
Seems like 5 most of the time, with some 6's, and a few of 7's. This is with just X's. I think the context might matter, and it might change depending on the letters before and after.

I wonder if I changed the way I do X's due to years spent filling out OCR documents. I know I changed most of my numbers due to that. (I now make 8's like gauche- and, I guess, JW)
posted by MtDewd at 9:02 AM on January 21, 2019



Canadian, artist, studied calligraphy when younger.
posted by Jade Dragon at 9:04 AM on January 21, 2019


7 - US - righty
I start capital A, F, M, N and sometimes R from the bottom left.
posted by soelo at 9:39 AM on January 21, 2019


7, US, right-handed

I don't start any letter with an upward stroke (though some start sideways and go down).

I start capitals A, M, and N with an upward stroke (from the bottom left).

Bizarrely, I start capitals B, D, E, F, P, and R with a straight downward stroke then retrace it to get back to the top of the letter and continue from there, which is inexcusably inefficient yet so ingrained in my muscle memory that I couldn't change if I tried.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:00 AM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]


8 if printing. 7 if cursive.
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 11:52 AM on January 21, 2019


I start capitals B, D, E, F, P, and R with a straight downward stroke then retrace it to get back to the top of the letter and continue from there, which is inexcusably inefficient

I dropped the vertical stroke from my capital E many years ago. The increase in leisure time has been immense.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:40 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]


8, US, right-handed.
posted by UhOhChongo! at 4:35 PM on January 21, 2019


I use method 5. Probably this is because method 5 is how you write “x” in cursive. My handwriting is a cursive-print hybrid, and got optimized for math during my undergrad degree (physics), so cursive/italic “x” is the only way I do it. (Right-handed, US.)
posted by snowmentality at 4:47 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]


And I've recently started adding a vertical line through my sevens, because why not?
Oops. Horizontal line. Need more coffee.
Nines are a loop and a straight diagonal, compared to sixes which are curved downward and end with a large circle.
And I put a slash through zeros so they don't look like the capital O. Too many commercial purchase orders with combinations of letters and numbers to do otherwise.
posted by TrishaU at 11:37 PM on January 21, 2019


I lied up above, turns out I'm actually an 8 and just didn't know how I do something that I've done a bajillion times in my life.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:29 AM on January 22, 2019


7
posted by papercake at 11:54 AM on January 22, 2019


@SortaBad: imagine meeting a psychopath who does anything other than number 4
posted by Going To Maine at 10:00 PM on January 23, 2019


American, not specifically handed but I write with my right hand by default. Varies by function--5 when handwriting, even if it's a capital X or I'm not trying to connect it to the next letter (I learned handwriting with the italic partial-cursive method but I lapse into just printing pretty frequently). 7 if I'm writing an X as a function, like X-marks-the-spot. I *think* if I was writing math (undergrad math major and math-related graduate degree) it would be 7 because I trained myself to write much more neatly and deliberately on my math homework (where I'd get partial credit for the instructor being able to read my work) than on things only I would be reading before I typed them up (everything else).
posted by C. K. Dexter Haven at 12:45 PM on January 24, 2019



U.S. | right-handed
posted by terrapin at 12:27 PM on January 28, 2019


8 righty and 7 lefty. I write with both hands although I am a natural right handed writer. I sign all of the credit card reader things at the store checkout with an X. It never occurred to me to do it any other way than the way I do it. If you don't pick up the pen or stylus, it can look like a fish type thing or half of the infinity sign.
posted by AugustWest at 11:00 PM on January 28, 2019


Renowned Philanthropist on Twitter: How do you draw your A’s ?
posted by pharm at 12:57 AM on January 29, 2019


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