I have really got to change the tone of my blogs, so here's something random.

How do you write your 8s?

Most people I know write it like a vertical infinity.

For some reason, I changed my way of writing it a couple years ago, so it's actually just two circles stacked on top of each other. Apparently this is weird.

I don't know why, but I like the more roundedness of the two circles versus that weird connecting cross thing in the middle.

My regular 8 is on the left. What most people I know write is on the right. Sorry for the out of focus shots.
[image loading]

Iranon

United States983 Posts

December 01 2012 17:42 GMT

The one on the right, like everyone I've ever seen write an 8.

I think you'd see more varied responses if you asked about 2 (loop at the bottom left or no loop), 5 (one stroke from top right to bottom left, or two strokes, first top left to bottom left, then the horizontal bar on top), 7 (horizontal slash or not), or zero (slash or not).

WolfintheSheep

Canada14127 Posts

December 01 2012 17:44 GMT

I stack two circles.

docvoc

United States5491 Posts

December 01 2012 17:47 GMT

Never really thought about it much, but I do the one on the right, stacking circles just feels funky.

Disregard

China10252 Posts

December 01 2012 17:49 GMT

Looks like you start from the center but I think its a tendency to start above for many as we are used to writing on loose leaf which has that straight guide line for us to form our letters or numbers.

CaucasianAsian

Korea (South)11603 Posts

December 01 2012 18:01 GMT

stacking circles takes longer, and i'm quite lazy in my hand writing

Probe1

United States17920 Posts

December 01 2012 18:04 GMT

VIII
I keep it real

HwangjaeTerran

Finland5967 Posts

December 01 2012 18:05 GMT

Why? Because the question of 2 circles vs vertical infinity almost ruined my life. I'm a recovering eightoholic.

e. Nowadays I steer clear from round shapes what-so-ever.

imPermanenCe

Netherlands595 Posts

December 01 2012 18:06 GMT

I took the effort here, man!

Unlike any of those 2!

edit: 500 posts woo!

in case upload's failing http://imgur.com/0qbHa

HwangjaeTerran

Finland5967 Posts

December 01 2012 18:09 GMT

#10

On December 02 2012 03:06 imPermanenCe wrote:

I took the effort here, man!

Unlike any of those 2!

edit: 500 posts woo!

in case upload's failing http://imgur.com/0qbHa

you gotta have .png or jpg at the end, from imgur you get that by right clicking and "open picture in another tab"
so it looks like http://imgur.com/0qbHa.png
[image loading]

e. also that looks just like Gooby would draw 5.

StateofReverie

United States633 Posts

December 01 2012 18:30 GMT

#11

the one on the right is faster because it is a continuous motion you make

shizaep

Canada2920 Posts

December 01 2012 18:34 GMT

#12

There's a lot of different ways to write numbers. I know "7"s and "4"s are always an area of high controversy too. I was trying to be neat here but I'm oftentimes just scribbling when I'm rushing and I always manage to confuse my "3"s, "6"s, and "8"s in various combinations.

Ettick

United States2434 Posts

December 01 2012 18:39 GMT

#13

I use the one on the right, just much faster and easier

skyR

Canada13817 Posts

December 01 2012 19:12 GMT

#14

right, except my lines actually connect lol

mmMacks

United States38 Posts

December 01 2012 20:21 GMT

#15

how about the number 4? some people make like, a capital L and then cross it with a lowercase l, but other people dont pick up the pen. I do the former because the latter can be perceived as a 9.

N.geNuity

United States5112 Posts

December 01 2012 20:37 GMT

#16

I do the right method mentioned in the OP, though I often make my bottom circle extremely small and it ends up looking like a 9.

For a 4 I do the L and the I method.

However, my terrible handwriting leads to this handy dandy chart of deciphering my shit when it comes to my notes. It especially sucks when I have to write something like "mu is proportional to n^alpha" or something cuz I have no idea what the hell I write. (mu alpha n^alpha). Or psi and phi, holy fuck I cannot write those things at fucking all.

What I try to write vs how it ends up looking, as reproduced in paint to get the gist of it.
[image loading]

Luepert

United States1934 Posts

December 01 2012 21:09 GMT

#17

I used to do 2 circles, but I stopped when i was in like 4th grade. The real question is when you do the circles, do you start at the top or bottom? Most people start on top for circles, zeros and o's, my brother and I are the only people I've met who do circles from the bottom.

Edit: after a little bit of testing, I think another efficient way to white 8's is to do a 3 and then a rever 3, maybe not as efficient at standard but surely better than 2 circles.