The long s can be traced back to Roman times, when the lowercase s typical took an elongated form in cursive writing in Latin. According to librarians at the New York Academy of Medicine, people were using the long s at the beginning and middle of words by the 12th century.

What is the cursive form of S?

The lowercase cursive s is less recognizable if you’re not familiar with cursive. It almost looks like a little sail, with a line extending up and to the right to connect to the next letter. Because cursive is meant to be written faster than print, understanding how the letters connect can help you be a faster writer!

Why is cursive G so weird?

The script they used became known as Carolingian script. Over time, monks copying by hand introduced variations in their letters. But single-story “g” prevails in handwriting, probably due to how much easier and quicker it is to write.

The former capital Q in cursive writing resembled a 2, and in 1996 Zaner-Bloser changed it to an oval with a tail “after the post office got on us,” says Richard M. The U.S. Postal Service’s automated scanners were reading the Q’s as 2’s when written by people trained in the Zaner-Bloser method.