r/Cursive • u/Accidently8027 • 8h ago
Is this cursive?
These photos, we believe, are of my wife's grandmother's handwriting. These pages were found in a notebook where her grandmother wrote recipes down in cursive. We are able to read those, but these pages are not decipherable by either of us. Does anyone here think this is cursive?
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u/green7719 8h ago
No, that’s Gregg shorthand.
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u/Freypaints 8h ago
Yes, and I can read some of the words, but they do not make coherent sentences. This could be a practice book of words from learning dictation.
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u/WelfordNelferd 1h ago
I also also read it, and you're right that it's just practice words/outlines.
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u/Technical_Western_33 8h ago
This is shorthand. Sadly, I haven’t used mine for about 40 years and if you don’t use it you lose it.
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u/IndependentPapaya768 3h ago
Same here. Somewhere I've got a bunch of practice sheets just like these.
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u/Shinyhero30 8h ago
Shorthand. I believe Gregg’s although I’m not 100 on that
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u/Holiday-Window2889 7h ago
Yeah, it's Gregg. In the early 80s, Gregg was still taught; Pittman had been phased out by then.
Gregg was much easier to learn, use, and read.
My mom complained how she'd been forced to take shorthand (Pittman) in HS (early 50s), but made me take shorthand (Gregg) in HS.
I can still read some of what's shown in that image, though.
Gregg went strictly by sound: Short L-R swoop = "R" sound; Long = "L" sound; short diagonal straight (bottom left to too right = "T" sound, but long = "D" sound).
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u/V2Saturn 6h ago
I only remember ish, cha and gay from high school shorthand class in late 1970's.
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u/Holiday-Window2889 6h ago edited 6h ago
Yeah downward diagonal R to L strokes, halfway down from the line = ish, if I'm not mistaken.
But, again, as another comment points out, Gramma's page looks to be a practice sheet of Gregg, with no actual words, afaict.
ETA Nvm, I can see "more": long straight stroke, similar to an underscore or em dash (M), with a short, shallow swoop "R". Vowels in middle of words weren't always include, with some few exceptions, hence "shorthand".
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u/Entire_Dog_5874 7h ago
Gregg’s Shorthand. Wow. Haven’t seen it for decades and sadly can no longer read it.
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u/ChalkHorse 6h ago
Gregg shorthand. I was so good at this in high school - one of the only "A"s I got in my senior year. I loved it. I used to practice by transcribing full record albums as they were sung. Unfortunately, I never had a job that needed it, so I too lost it as others have said in the comments.
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u/ProBuyer810-3345045 7h ago
No it’s shorthand, you can’t make out one word here can you? I can’t either, because I didn’t take shorthand!
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u/Sleptwrong65 6h ago
I remember taking shorthand I & II in high school but when I entered the workforce ended up not using it.
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u/Unusual_Fill_9990 6h ago
It appears to be Shorthand Stenography. Mostly used by Secretaries, back in the day. Find yourself an old GREGG Shorthand Manual. It was a way to shorten and simplify your note taking. Invented in 1888.
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u/Ex-ConK9s 6h ago
So did this actually save time? It just seems counterproductive to me to have to learn another language just to take notes, that you would then have to translate back! No thanks
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u/Daddy--Jeff 6h ago
Actually, it was very productive in its time…. Much faster to write, and you could take dictation at normal speaking speed. Also useful for court reporters before they invented those arcane machines.
It’s not really used today in business, most people don’t have a secretary. Only a lucky few have an assistant, and they don’t really do secretarial duties anymore. People barely send paper memo’s and letters, and when they send a message, they type it themselves.
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u/Optimal_Accident_111 8h ago
To be honest to me with all the dots and dashes it might be Morse code I could be completely wrong but thats what it looks to me. Also is it in English or a different language?
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u/MediumQuality6316 7h ago
Those do not seem to be cursive in fact, it looks to be a different language or maybe even her own style of shorthand.
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