Community Chat

[tends2dogs]

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@Lilysmom wrote:

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@RedTop wrote:

I excelled at shorthand in high school and used shorthand in every job I had after graduation.   

Back to work at the bank makes sense, if the person who wrote it was known to stray from their teachings and write in versions they could remember.   I have done that as well when taking dictation.

However, using the strokes I was taught, this phrase says "back, to do, of course, at the, bank", which makes no sense.   Based on the inconsistency of the strokes in the first and last words, I do feel the writer had their own version of writing that was easy for them to remember.   

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@RedTop et al, I taught Gregg Shorthand.  I agree with Red Top's translation.  The third symbol is for the word 'of course'.  I wonder if she meant she was back to do a course at the bank?  

Whatever, fun to see it again.  I still use it all the time.  LM

The photo above is what 'back to work at the bank' would look like to me in Gregg Shorthand.  LM

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@Lilysmom  Thank you, how interesting!

[tends2dogs]

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@kivah wrote:

I worked as a stenographer for most of my career and I know Pitman - studied it in Brooklyn, NY. If this is Pitman, the 2nd word looks like "rather than"; 3rd word looks like "name"; 4th word looks like "highly". The 1st and 5th words look similar - but not exactly the same. 

Do u know who wrote it and where they grew up? People on the east coast learned Pitman (English version) and most of the rest of the US were taught Gregg.

Gregg shorthand doesn't have dark and light strokes (all the same) and is usually written with a pen.

Pitman has dark and light strokes, has dots and dashes and other symbols to show how to pronounce the words and is usually writeen on a lined-pad. When someone knows shorthand well --- they can make up their own short-cuts which makes it more difficult to read.

It could be Gregg.

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@kivah  I believe it is Gregg because I remember seeing a textbook for that in my parent's house.  My mom wrote the note.  She grew up in Michigan.

[Big Sister]

@tends2dogs  If I were you, I would frame that piece of paper; it is a true piece of your mom.

[tends2dogs]

@Big Sister  I have been looking at it under the glass on top of my desk for a few years now.  I like your idea, though.  I also have a piece of paper that she left on my counter years ago that said " I love you ".  I think that one deserves a frame, too.

I had a great mom..........I had a great dad.......I was extremely blessed.

[ALRATIBA]

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@tends2dogs wrote:

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

That looks like Gregg shorthand.  I learned Pitman.

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@ALRATIBA   I do believe it is Gregg because I remember seeing a textbook at my parent's house. My mom learned this in high school and she graduated in 1942. 

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@tends2dogs

My mother learned Pitman in the 1930s, and I learned Pitman in the 1950s.  Very useful to know.. I was 14 when I learned shorthand -. 60 years ago.  

I used it in college to take notes and I take some online seminars now and I'm still using it!   Was useul for taking meeting notes all the years I worked. Typing and shorthand are two useful skills ... even today.

[twinny70]

It is definitely Gregg Shorthand.  I took it back in the 60's & loved it.  I agree that it is back to work with the bank.

[RedTop]

I still believe the written intent was "back to work at the bank", and it was written by an experienced stenographer who had adapted her own style.  

I often transcribed shorthand taken by my coworker's, and know that each of us over time adjust our strokes, usually based on the speed of the dictation, to a style that we most easily remember when we type from our notes.

In this simple sentence, and based solely on my Gregg teachings, I see that the second stroke is extended with the hook at the end, which is how I would write "to do".   The third stroke is also extended longer than the normal stroke for work with the hook curvature on each end, which is how I was taught to write "of course", but I can see an experienced stenographer jotting that stroke as work.   Stroke number four definitely has "the" stroke written correctly at the end, and as I have seen thru transcribing for myself and others, experience often makes us add that bottom loop for an "a" with the normal "t" stroke for the word "at".   My initial sight reaction to reading the fourth stroke was "with the", although I was taught to make the loop smaller, do a slight hook curve at the end before adding the end stroke for "the".   The end word "bank" was written with one very quick stroke, which reduced the size of "a" before the downward slant stroke for "ank".     

Everyone of us who still use our shorthand could get together and write the same sentence or even paragraph, and our hand strokes would be different; our slants, hooks, dips, and curves would be formed differently.   When I took dictation in my first job, my strokes were small, neat and formed exactly as I had learned in school---my filled steno book looked like it had been printed that way.   Over time my strokes became larger, but I also improvised with larger vowels and other endings, to the style I could more easily remember.   Even with my freehanded style, my last coworker was able to transcribe from my notes as well.    

[bellanonna]

I was taught Gregg Diamond Jubilee shorthand in 1966 at Berkeley Secretarial and this reads (to me), back to work at the bank.  We were taught lots of brief forms to make writing faster.  Loved it then, still use it today for notes to myself and making lists.

[tends2dogs]

@RedTop   Thank you for taking the time to explain the way an individual's writing style evolves.  As many have said here, this is something that stays in your head all your life.  My mother loved working for the bank.  Even in her last years, she dreamed about working there.  I like to think that her note meant that she was back on the job after her short hiatus.

Thanks again!

[Financialgrl]

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@sugar22 wrote:

It has been YEARS since I took shorthand, but it looks like "back to work at the bank".  Does that make sense?

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Been 50 years for me - but that's what I see too! 

Also think it's prob Gregg Shorthand - it's what was taught years ago and also agree that once you become proficient you make up your own combo of strokes that make sense to you.  Oh, BTW, in my few years as a secretary, only once did I have anyone that ever required it.  I think it takes an effort of the person dictating to you as well - had a colonel and his dictation was gr8 in that he never was extremely fast and always had the appropriate amount of pauses so as to make it easy to form full strokes.