If your handwriting leaves something to be desired, you could apologize for your chicken scratchings. But there’s a more precise term: griffonage, which has nothing to do with the mythical griffin, though the two sound alike. Griffonage comes from...
Snout-fair means “good-looking person,” throttlebottom is a “dishonest public official,” and “ejectamenta” refers to “material ejected from a volcano.” Christine sent 31 such rare and obsolete words from Delafield, Wisconsin. She belongs to the...
We asked for your thoughts about whether cursive writing should be taught in schools — and many of you replied with a resounding “Yes!” You said cursive helps develop fine motor skills, improves mental focus, and lets you read old...
The emotional appeal of handwriting and the emotional reveal of animal phrases. Should children be taught cursive writing in school, or is their time better spent studying other things? A handwritten note and a typed one may use the very same words...
After our conversation about long-forgotten items left in books, a volunteer at the Norman Williams Public Library in Woodstock, Vermont, writes to say that he found an old letter to the Tooth Fairy tucked inside a donated book. The letter is from...
Following up on our conversation about whether cursive handwriting should be taught in schools, 23-year-old Rachel from Newport News, Virginia, wrote to say she learned cursive in third grade, but has never used it since. This is part of a complete...
