italicize this!

[istitch]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

good morning/day/night,

is the term italicize acceptable? to me, it has more to do with the way that most people use the italic button in programs like Word (and even Quark!)

we all know that we're supposed to use the actual italic face, so when we do that, should we avoid use of the term italicize? is it better to simply say “…use an italic face” or something like that?

has this term been used in the past or is it a reflection of more common type usage?

i guess it just bugs me when the term appears on client revisions…

[Miss Tiffany]

IMHO Use the italic vresion _or_ italicize it.

[istitch]

sorry Miss Tiffany, but what's IMHO? i did a search and found it a bunch but i couldn't figure it out.

: )

[matthewbuchanan]

Usually, "In my humble/honest opinion".

[Miss Tiffany]

Yep, that. But I didn't spell version correctly. :^] Oops.

[istitch]

got it. so your saying it doesn't matter.

what about the term itself? in the days of metal type, did people use the term? or is this something that started as a desktop publishing term?

[claes]

i prefer cursivating and obliquating.

[istitch]

>cursivating

but when you use the forbidden italic button, your not making it cursive. is cursivating more of a type design thing?

[claes]

cursivating and obliquating aren't even real words. sorry. (o:

but to be more serious about it, why would the word "italicize" mean using the fake in-program skew? i'm pretty sure it means to print with italic letters, so maybe it's just your own perception that italicize means something bad..?

[Miss Tiffany]

Italicize is an action. So yes, you are choosing to hit a button. I suppose. Or you could be italicizing it by selecting the italic version of the typeface.

[hankzane]

You should ask an Italian.

[claes]

Italianize.

[istitch]

>so maybe it’s just your own perception that italicize means something bad..?

you could be on to something : ) but the answer to that question lies in whether or not the term has been used in the passed, before the days of the desktop publisher.

…because when you use the italic button, you are essentially turning the roman into an italic. hence, italicize.
(^ i wrote this before i read Miss Tiff's comment)

it's not that it's bad to use a term like this. i'm just wanting to investigate the origin of the term a little further because i feel that it might be (just a tad) insightful… IMHO : )

[dberlowgone]

First off, we don't say Italicize. If we are making a mechanically derived sloped style is oblique or obliqued.

Second, when you use the italic button, you are either obliqueing the roman or, calling the real italic, depending on the typeface, OS and application.

Thank you, for your visit.

[Si_Daniels]

>but when you use the forbidden italic button

That's surely an olden days mac-centric rule? It's probably best to say "be sure to use a 'true italic' font" or "avoid fake italics and synthesized bolds."

I read recently here that the bold button is the 5th most used feature in Word 2003 - but you rarely see fake bold used these days.

[claes]

First off, we don’t say Italicize. If we are making a mechanically derived sloped style is oblique or obliqued.

we agree with this statement.

(;

[Miss Tiffany]

That's what I was just saying. :'^(

[fontplayer]

cursivating

"So-and-so started cursivating when they read so-and-so's reply."

obliquating

Compulsory form for fervent quaters.

[istitch]

Sii,
are you saying that the (newer) bold button replaces the font with the true bold weight?

[pattyfab]

Who's the decider here?

[istitch]

that's what i'm trying to figure out.

[cerulean]

The word "italicize" certainly predates computer type, and simply means "to print in italics." Its usage is similar to "capitalize." It would be impractical for a grammar and style handbook to avoid straightforward verbs like "capitalize," "italicize" and "underline" when telling you what to do with your words.

Nobody refers to an italicized word as "an italic word," because an Italic word would be one with roots in the Italic family of languages. It's like the difference between an emphatic word (one might say that "preposterous" is an inherently emphatic word) and an emphasized word (you can emphasize any word; it's a thing you do to it when you represent it in sounds or type).

In typophile terms, you can only oblique a glyph, but you can italicize a letter. You italicize a letter by using an italic glyph for that letter.

[timd]

/__/__/
When proofreaders, editors (and, alas, some typographers) can't remember the mark above* they use italicise.
*okay that's an approximation
Tim

[Si_Daniels]

>are you saying that the (newer) bold button replaces the font with the true bold weight?

No I'm saying that due to the 4 weight family style-linking 'limitation' in Windows GDI, if a true italic or bold exists you're going to get it. You rarely see fake italics in Windows generated content that uses bundled fonts. Exceptions being those families that have no true italic - Comic Sans and Tahoma for example.

[Eric_West]

Saying italicise comes quite naturally to me...