A reader asks: Did your hand writing go for a toss after using electronic keyboards?

Q: Did your hand writing go for a toss after using electronic keyboards? (via Quora)

A: Well, any skill that’s not regularly practiced will atrophy. But in my case, there was little to lose; and I can’t blame keyboards!

My handwriting was hard for others to read from grade school on. Formal penmanship was too slow; I used a fast scrawl that I could read, but not so much others.

As an adult, I deliberately made my handwriting even worse after I discovered several people trying to read my notes over my shoulder during business meetings. Small, cramped, handwriting peppered with many abbreviations prevented these lookers-on from deciphering my stuff.

If I returned to my notes later, I could transcribe them or clean them up. If I waited too long (so that I forgot the context and gist) even I was sometimes unable to read my own writing.

Thank goodness for keyboards, or you wouldn’t be able to read this answer!  🙂


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2 Replies to “A reader asks: Did your hand writing go for a toss after using electronic keyboards?”

    1. I believe it’s actually a Britishism:

      “A “full toss” is a delivery that reaches the batsman without bouncing, and they are rarely done on purpose because they are so easy to hit. They are worse than a wasted delivery. So “to go for a toss” means to waste something horribly.” — https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/287978/origin-of-the-expression-gone-for-a-toss-in-indian-english

      There are several less savory definitions, too, but I don’t think they apply here. 🙂

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