Average Age of an AARoads Forum user.

[webny99]

Yeah, it's pretty rare to see a signature in which all letters of both first and last name are clearly legible. In my own signature you could probably make out the letters of my first name and middle initial, but the way I sign my last name is more or less a line of varying degrees of waviness with no distinguishable letters.

[kphoger]

My own signature is a very, very, very stylized version of just my first and last initials.

Amazingly, when I was crossing the border into Mexico one year, the agent processing my temporary vehicle importation decided my signature didn't quite match my tourist card (which I had just gotten on the other side of the room) well enough, and I had to try signing twice more before she decided it was good enough–and then only after grabbing her supervisor to peer at it with her for a while.  That's the only time I've been grilled about my signature.

[US 89]

The only time anyone has given a shit about my signature is when I filled out my Utah mail ballot maybe 3 years ago. Apparently what I put on the envelope wasn't similar enough to the one they had on file - in other words, the one I had put on a shitty DMV pinpad when I was 16 and first got my drivers license. I had to fill out another form, this time wanting my drivers license number in addition to a bunch of more typical personal information, then email a scan of it to the county clerk.

[Scott5114]

As someone who makes a point of signing legibly for my own personal satisfaction, I loathe the things that pin pads do to signatures. I've gotten pretty decent at signing on them (although screens with a matte finish are far preferable to the glossy ones–why do those even exist?). More than once, though, I've made a pretty acceptable render of my signature on a sucky pad, only to be handed a printout of the transaction with my signature horizontally stretched to twice the width it was when I signed it. (For some reason, this tends to happen most frequently with automotive-related transactions.)

Anyone that forces anyone to sign anything with just a finger, not even giving the benefit of a stylus, should be sentenced to interacting with electronics with only their nose for the rest of their life.

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I have 3 different signatures. I've used them as watermarks on my photos on FB & Flickr.

[US71]

As someone who makes a point of signing legibly for my own personal satisfaction, I loathe the things that pin pads do to signatures. I've gotten pretty decent at signing on them (although screens with a matte finish are far preferable to the glossy ones–why do those even exist?). More than once, though, I've made a pretty acceptable render of my signature on a sucky pad, only to be handed a printout of the transaction with my signature horizontally stretched to twice the width it was when I signed it. (For some reason, this tends to happen most frequently with automotive-related transactions.)

Anyone that forces anyone to sign anything with just a finger, not even giving the benefit of a stylus, should be sentenced to interacting with electronics with only their nose for the rest of their life.

My dad's signature always looked like ArchLBa

[oscar]

Yeah, it's pretty rare to see a signature in which all letters of both first and last name are clearly legible. In my own signature you could probably make out the letters of my first name and middle initial, but the way I sign my last name is more or less a line of varying degrees of waviness with no distinguishable letters.

My signature is usually illegible. Basically the first letters of my first, middle, and last names are kind of legible, with each usually followed by a squiggle (unless I can get by with just the initial for my middle name).

When doing online transactions with my state or local government, such as for applying for an absentee ballot, typically I can supply ID info that lets the computer system use my signature on file with the DMV. That's not real legible either, but it works OK.

[abefroman329]

When I was taught to sign my name in school, we were specifically told NOT to make it legible, because it would be easy for someone to forge it.

Side note: I give zero fucks about whether they're teaching kids to write in cursive these days, but I do wonder how they're learning to sign their name if they don't know cursive.

[kphoger]

Side note: I give zero fucks about whether they're teaching kids to write in cursive these days, but I do wonder how they're learning to sign their name if they don't know cursive.

I'm more insistent that kids are taught how to read cursive than write it.  It would be awfully embarrassing to find a note from your boss on your desk after lunch, and then have to go ask him what it says because you can't read cursive.  It would also be a detriment to research if you can't even read historical documents from before the typewriter era.

[abefroman329]

I'm more insistent that kids are taught how to read cursive than write it.  It would be awfully embarrassing to find a note from your boss on your desk after lunch, and then have to go ask him what it says because you can't read cursive.

By the time my kid enters the workforce, it's highly likely that his boss won't know how to write in cursive, either. 

It would also be a detriment to research if you can't even read historical documents from before the typewriter era.

If that's what they want to specialize in, they can learn it as part of their post-secondary education - we don't teach the Phoenician alphabet in school, either.

[skluth]

I'm more insistent that kids are taught how to read cursive than write it.  It would be awfully embarrassing to find a note from your boss on your desk after lunch, and then have to go ask him what it says because you can't read cursive.

By the time my kid enters the workforce, it's highly likely that his boss won't know how to write in cursive, either. 

It would also be a detriment to research if you can't even read historical documents from before the typewriter era.

If that's what they want to specialize in, they can learn it as part of their post-secondary education - we don't teach the Phoenician alphabet in school, either.

Forget Phoenician. I have a difficult time reading documents in many of the fonts used before the 20th century with all the extra serifs and other embellishments even when they're in English. It's near impossible for me to read the text in German or Latin in those fonts, and I have a basic familiarity with both languages (HS German classes and Latin Catholic masses).

[J N Winkler]

It would also be a detriment to research if you can't even read historical documents from before the typewriter era.

If that's what they want to specialize in, they can learn it as part of their post-secondary education - we don't teach the Phoenician alphabet in school, either.

Part of the problem is that paleography is a dying field.  And while this is less of an issue in English since the forms of cursive in current use are all at least loosely based on an 18th-century copperplate, there are handwritten documents in other European languages that are difficult for even native speakers to read because the handwriting systems as well as the orthographies have changed.

This said, I expect handwriting to hold its own in some form since pen and paper helps keep surveillance capitalism at bay.

[kalvado]

I'm more insistent that kids are taught how to read cursive than write it.  It would be awfully embarrassing to find a note from your boss on your desk after lunch, and then have to go ask him what it says because you can't read cursive.

By the time my kid enters the workforce, it's highly likely that his boss won't know how to write in cursive, either. 

It would also be a detriment to research if you can't even read historical documents from before the typewriter era.

If that's what they want to specialize in, they can learn it as part of their post-secondary education - we don't teach the Phoenician alphabet in school, either.

Forget Phoenician. I have a difficult time reading documents in many of the fonts used before the 20th century with all the extra serifs and other embellishments even when they're in English. It's near impossible for me to read the text in German or Latin in those fonts, and I have a basic familiarity with both languages (HS German classes and Latin Catholic masses).

Forget fonts. Once upon a time I wanted to look at a book written by James Maxwell - physicist who introduced Maxwell equation, the basics of electrodynamics, published in 1860s or 1870s.  Book was (re?)printed in perfectly legible font, but I struggled with notations in equations. I could understand every symbol, I went through those things many many times...

[kphoger]

By the time my kid enters the workforce, it's highly likely that his boss won't know how to write in cursive, either. 

What makes you think that?  Most children still learn cursive in school, and it's reasonable to expect a fair number of them to adopt it as their regular handwriting.

My middle son's cursive (he turns 12 today) is neater than his print, so he prefers to write in cursive.  And it wasn't even at our prompting that he first started learning cursive to begin with:  we didn't start teaching him until after he'd already started practicing on his own, based on cursive that he was seeing as a normal part of his everyday life (on TV ads, brand logos, greeting cards, flyers, etc).

[abefroman329]

What makes you think that?

Oh, I made the mistake of believing the Boomers who were screaming  they weren't teaching cursive in any public schools any more.

Which was silly of me, considering they also believe no school districts anywhere start the day with the Pledge of Allegiance.

[I don't think my son does, but he's in pre-K.]

[Rothman]

By the time my kid enters the workforce, it's highly likely that his boss won't know how to write in cursive, either. 

What makes you think that?  Most children still learn cursive in school, and it's reasonable to expect a fair number of them to adopt it as their regular handwriting.

My middle son's cursive (he turns 12 today) is neater than his print, so he prefers to write in cursive.  And it wasn't even at our prompting that he first started learning cursive to begin with:  we didn't start teaching him until after he'd already started practicing on his own, based on cursive that he was seeing as a normal part of his everyday life (on TV ads, brand logos, greeting cards, flyers, etc).

Congratulations on teaching your kid a dying and soon to be extinct art.

[kalvado]

By the time my kid enters the workforce, it's highly likely that his boss won't know how to write in cursive, either. 

What makes you think that?  Most children still learn cursive in school, and it's reasonable to expect a fair number of them to adopt it as their regular handwriting.

My middle son's cursive (he turns 12 today) is neater than his print, so he prefers to write in cursive.  And it wasn't even at our prompting that he first started learning cursive to begin with:  we didn't start teaching him until after he'd already started practicing on his own, based on cursive that he was seeing as a normal part of his everyday life (on TV ads, brand logos, greeting cards, flyers, etc).

Congratulations on teaching your kid a dying and soon to be extinct art.

On one hand, "a note on a desk" is getting replaced with "instant message / email"
On the other hand... I have hard time thinking of doing quick calculations (formulas, not numbers) and sketches without a paper or a whiteboard. So paper may actually last a bit longer than you assume...

[kphoger]

Congratulations on teaching your kid a dying and soon to be extinct art.

Until such time as there is no longer any need to read anything that's been handwritten–or any computer-generated script designed to look like handwriting–it will remain a useful skill to be able to read cursive.

[Rothman]

By the time my kid enters the workforce, it's highly likely that his boss won't know how to write in cursive, either. 

What makes you think that?  Most children still learn cursive in school, and it's reasonable to expect a fair number of them to adopt it as their regular handwriting.

My middle son's cursive (he turns 12 today) is neater than his print, so he prefers to write in cursive.  And it wasn't even at our prompting that he first started learning cursive to begin with:  we didn't start teaching him until after he'd already started practicing on his own, based on cursive that he was seeing as a normal part of his everyday life (on TV ads, brand logos, greeting cards, flyers, etc).

Congratulations on teaching your kid a dying and soon to be extinct art.

On one hand, "a note on a desk" is getting replaced with "instant message / email"
On the other hand... I have hard time thinking of doing quick calculations (formulas, not numbers) and sketches without a paper or a whiteboard. So paper may actually last a bit longer than you assume...

Psst: We're talking about cursive, not paper.

[Rothman]

Congratulations on teaching your kid a dying and soon to be extinct art.

Until such time as there is no longer any need to read anything that's been handwritten–or any computer-generated script designed to look like handwriting–it will remain a useful skill to be able to read cursive.

I don't understand your defensiveness on this issue.  It's just a form of handwriting that is clearly and slowly disappearing.  So, teach away in the name of preservation, but you're kidding yourself in terms of its ongoing usefulness. 

Personally, I can't think of very many times that I've needed to read cursive over the last decade.  Maybe in Christmas cards from my aunts, who are aging Boomers.

It's just gone from "this is how adults handwrite" to "Boomer scrawling code."

Now then, Russian cursive is still quite useful, since no one writes anything in print...

[kphoger]

Personally, I can't think of very many times that I've needed to read cursive over the last decade.

You can't think of it because it's ubiquitous, and you're reading it all the time without even thinking about it.  Forget handwritten notes:  just look at other media...

Every time you see the Kellogg's logo, you're reading cursive.  If, say, you were to go into this store or this one, it probably wouldn't even occur to you that you wouldn't be able to read the store name without knowing cursive.  Or if the menu you're looking at has "Appetizers" and "Drinks" in cursive, I bet you read it and know which section to look at without even realizing you're doing it.

This is why, as I said, my son started figuring out cursive before my wife and I even decided to start teaching him:  he was encountering cursive all the time in his everyday life.  And not because my wife and I use cursive handwriting, because we don't.  In fact, I usually write in all caps.

We're talking about cursive, not paper.

They're not the same thing, no.  But as long as writing on paper is still a thing, there will be people who write in cursive.  I'm struggling to think of a writing system that used to have cursive but no longer does.  It just isn't the type of thing to go away.  The only way I see cursive going away is with a complete transition to non-handwritten language.

Now then, Russian cursive is still quite useful, since no one writes anything in print...

I don't speak Russian, but I learned the alphabet at some point.  Then, once I had mastered the alphabet, I learned the cursive script.  However, since then, I've forgotten the cursive.  If you don't use it, you lose it, I guess.

[Rothman]

Personally, I can't think of very many times that I've needed to read cursive over the last decade.

You can't think of it because it's ubiquitous, and you're reading it all the time without even thinking about it.  Forget handwritten notes:  just look at other media...

Every time you see the Kellogg's logo, you're reading cursive.  If, say, you were to go into this store or this one, it probably wouldn't even occur to you that you wouldn't be able to read the store name without knowing cursive.  Or if the menu you're looking at has "Appetizers" and "Drinks" in cursive, I bet you read it and know which section to look at without even realizing you're doing it.

This is why, as I said, my son started figuring out cursive before my wife and I even decided to start teaching him:  he was encountering cursive all the time in his everyday life.  And not because my wife and I use cursive handwriting, because we don't.  In fact, I usually write in all caps.

Yes, cursive will never die because it's used in corporate logos and headings on some menus...less and less...

Your son will be one of the proud few to keep cursive going.  I mean, calligraphers and the like do have followings on TikTok up to a couple thousand or so...

[kalvado]

Personally, I can't think of very many times that I've needed to read cursive over the last decade.

You can't think of it because it's ubiquitous, and you're reading it all the time without even thinking about it.  Forget handwritten notes:  just look at other media...

Every time you see the Kellogg's logo, you're reading cursive.  If, say, you were to go into this store or this one, it probably wouldn't even occur to you that you wouldn't be able to read the store name without knowing cursive.  Or if the menu you're looking at has "Appetizers" and "Drinks" in cursive, I bet you read it and know which section to look at without even realizing you're doing it.

This is why, as I said, my son started figuring out cursive before my wife and I even decided to start teaching him:  he was encountering cursive all the time in his everyday life.  And not because my wife and I use cursive handwriting, because we don't.  In fact, I usually write in all caps.

Yes, cursive will never die because it's used in corporate logos and headings on some menus...less and less...

Your son will be one of the proud few to keep cursive going.  I mean, calligraphers and the like do have followings on TikTok up to a couple thousand or so...

You may consider gothic script along same lines. It exists, it is being used in certain situation, there are certainly some professionals who knows how to write it. Not a big deal to read a line or two...

[J N Winkler]

In this household we still use handwritten grocery lists--it's just much more convenient than setting up a text file multiple users can edit on their phones, and it also means I can simply lock up my phone in the trunk of my car when I go grocery shopping.

[skluth]

Along with the Kellogg's logo, the following logos are also in cursive

Coca-Cola
Campbell's
Instagram (yes, really)
Hallmark
Cadillac and Ford
Eddie Bauer
Sports teams like the Dodgers, Royals, and Indians (and the Guardians, kind of)
And young girls children see script the first time they get a Barbie

Yes, the use of cursive is going away, but it's demise is very much overexaggerated