the.com/shorthand
writing engineered to outrun your own tongue, then forgotten the moment typewriters learned to listen
means A rapid method of writing using symbols or abbreviations to keep pace with speech, or, by extension, any abbreviated or simplified way of expressing something.
from A plain English compound, literally 'short hand' — 'hand' here meaning handwriting, as in a clear or elegant 'hand.' It dates to the early 17th century, when systems for swift note-taking were being devised; the older rival term was 'brachygraphy,' from Greek 'brakhus' (short) and 'graphein' (to write), but the homely English version won out.
- speed record
- Over 350 words per minute set in 1922
- ancient roots
- Romans used it; Cicero's slave invented a system
- courtroom staple
- Stenographers still type phonetically on 22-key machines
- lost language
- Millions of old notes now nearly undecipherable
- name origin
- Pitman and Gregg systems dominated for a century
pitman shorthand — stenography system invented by isaac pitman in 1837, still used by court reporters
gregg shorthand — cursive shorthand system created by john robert gregg in 1888, widely taught in us schools through 20th century
teeline shorthand — simplified shorthand developed in uk in 1968, based on letter shapes rather than dots and dashes