Block letters are a form of writing in which the letters are upright, separated, and usually made without serifs. In English-speaking countries children are first taught to write in block letters (also called printed letters), and later may advance to cursive (joined) writing. Other countries (Poland, Italy, etc.) focus on cursive writing from the first grade. On official forms, one is often asked to write in block capital letters. This is because cursive handwriting, and especially signatures, can be hard to read. It is often misconstrued that one must write in capital letters when writing in block letters.
In at least one court case involving patents, trademarks and registration of designs, the term "block letters" was found to include both upper and lower case. (Fossil Inc v The Fossil Group )
In typography, the term block letters is applied to crude fonts formed by cutting a material such as wood or metal without the sophistication usually associated with professional type design in typography.
Famous quotes containing the words block and/or letters:
“Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically—for our mutual good. The lie is the basic building block of good manners. That may seem mildly shocking to a moralist—but then what isn’t?”
—Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)
“Certainly, young children can begin to practice making letters and numbers and solving problems, but this should be done without workbooks. Young children need to learn initiative, autonomy, industry, and competence before they learn that answers can be right or wrong.”
—David Elkind (20th century)