Phrase · Illegible handwriting
My handwriting is illegible: a/o, u/v, n/m… how the doubts are resolved
You wrote the phrase by hand years ago, in a hurry, and now you can’t tell whether that letter is an a or an o. It is one of the most common situations and also one of the best-ending ones, because the word list was designed precisely so these doubts resolve themselves.
Why there is almost always only one valid reading
The 2048 possible words were chosen not to resemble each other. If you are unsure between two letters, normally only one of the two readings exists in the list, and the other simply isn’t a valid word. The doubt dissolves without any guessing.
And when both readings exist — it happens, though it isn’t the norm — you have two candidate phrases, not a problem. Two are tested in a second. Even with five or six such doubts spread across the sheet, the number of combinations is still trivial for a computer.
What to do with the paper
- Don’t rewrite it «neatly». Copying it out cleanly is where the irreversible mistakes happen.
- Don’t trace over the letters with a pen to make them clearer: if you get one wrong, you destroy the original.
- On a separate sheet, note the doubts as they are: «position 7: could be a or o», without deciding.
- Store the paper flat, in an envelope, away from light and damp.
The most frequent confusions
| Typical doubts | What usually happens |
|---|---|
| a / o | Almost always only one reading exists |
| u / v | Same; resolved instantly |
| n / m | There may be two valid words: two attempts |
| i / l / 1 | There are no digits in the list: it is always a letter |
| rn / m | The classic small-handwriting confusion |
| A word cut by the paper’s fold | The first 4 letters are usually enough |
That last row is worth underlining: each word on the list is determined by its first four letters. If all you can read of a word is «abst», you already know which one it is. That saves a great many half-ruined sheets.