Which archaic word refers to someone's poor handwriting?
And the answer: cacography.
The word "cacography" means bad penmanship, and is essentially the opposite of calligraphy. Today's use of the word means a deliberate comic misspelling, such as the phrase, "I Can Has Cheezburger."
Have bad handwriting? For once, you're in luck! Your special talent is known as cacography. Though you may not have known the word before, you do know many brands to which it applies today: Froot Loops, Krispy Kreme and Playskool are all examples of the modern use of "cacography." If calligraphy is the art of beautiful handwriting, then cacography is the art of bad handwriting (if such an art form exists). Naturally, it's quite an easy art to master.
If you do have cacography, fear not. In fact, you're in some pretty esteemed company, for not only do doctors and their infamously illegible prescriptions fill the ranks of the cacographists, but some of the world's most famous writers have remarkably bad handwriting. Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein, and Muhammad Ali were all great thinkers of their time, yet all plagued by the affliction of cacography. Alas.
Check out some more great writers with terrible handwriting here.
