The typefaces we are most familiar with on our computers are divided into two principle categories— ‘serif’ and ‘sans-serif.’
This column you are reading now was written in my computer in ‘Times New Roman’—although by the time it reaches the computer screen on my website (or in the newsletter you receive) it has become a ‘sans-serif’ typeface.
We think of ‘serif’ typefaces as having those curls and twists, and the ‘sans-serif’ as being much squarer and straight up and down.
The word ‘serif’ is recorded in English from 1785, and when it first appeared it meant cross-strokes, or finishing strokes, at the end of a principal stroke of a letter.
The Oxford has explanatory note, in which they say that small end or cross-strokes were first used by ancient stonecutters to define the limits of the chiselled principal strokes of Roman letters more clearly, and were later added by pen to written texts to give weight and clarity to the ends of the strokes.
However, the word serif itself (in its various forms) apparently only came into use as a technical term to describe these finishing strokes with the advent of early modern typesetting; it was subsequently applied to the similar cross-strokes on handwritten letters.
The word itself seems to come from a Dutch source word meaning a line, a stroke, or a mark.
According to recent news reports US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized earlier proposals that all State Department documents appear in a ‘sans-serif’ font, rather than a ‘serif’ font.
He said the proposal was ‘radical’—so I take it that he doesn’t life ‘sans-serif’ fonts?
Or that he really like the little curly bits in ‘serif’ fonts?
And the word ‘sans-serif’ is just the word ‘serif’ with the French word for ‘without’ (sans) tacked on to the front.
I must admit I can’t see the point of making a fuss about such things.
As long as it’s clear and I can read it I don’t care what font it appears in!
Tonight, I will be hosting 'The Late Debate' on Sky News at the earlier summer season time of 8pm AEDT.
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
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