Taylor shorthand

The system of geometric shorthand published in Britain by Samuel Taylor in 1786, under the title An essay intended to establish à standard for an universal system of Stenography, or Short-hand writing, was the first shorthand system to be used across the English-speaking world. Taylor shorthand uses an alphabet of 19 letters of simplified shape. His book was translated and published in France by Théodore-Pierre Bertin in 1792 under the title Système universel et complet de Stenographie ou Manière abrégée d'écrire applicable à tous les idiomes.

Principles

Vowels are omitted except at the beginning and end of a word, where all vowels and diphthongs are written as a single dot. A single letter stands for both f and v, one for s and z, and another for g (either pronunciation) and j, as well as additional letters for ch, sh, th. The consonants are joined together, as in cursive Latin script, apart from a couple of suffixes; when two of the same consonant come together (due to the omission of an intervening vowel), they are written with a single letter of larger size. (An exception: when two "r"s are written, without an adjoining consonant, as in 'rare', then the second is written as an italic Latin r.)

Taylor

Taylor may refer to:

People

Places

Antarctica

Australia

Canada

USA

Characters

Taylor, Missouri

Taylor is an unincorporated community in northeastern Marion County, Missouri, United States. It is located at the northern junction of U.S. Routes 24 and 61. It is about five miles west of Quincy, Illinois and eight miles north of Palmyra.

The community is part of the Hannibal Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Coordinates: 39°56′17″N 91°31′26″W / 39.93806°N 91.52389°W / 39.93806; -91.52389

Taylor sept

Taylor is a sept ("branch") of Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan. Present day members of the Taylor sept hold the Scottish surname Taylor.

Sept namebearer

Some members of the Taylor sept are descendents of Donald Cameron ('Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe'), who lived in the Scottish Highlands Lochaber area ("Cameron country") circa mid 16th century. Others, with no documented connection to Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe or the Clan Cameron, are simply descended from those with an occupational surname meaning tailor. Though Donald's father was XIV Chief of Clan Cameron, Donald, born out of wedlock, could not inherit the title. Nursed by a tailor's wife, Donald received the nickname An Taillear Dubh (an, a diminutive; Taillear, an occupational reference to the caretaker's husband; Dubh, translated as "black" in the context of meaning "swarthy" or "dark tempered") as an infant.

As a young man, Donald became skilled in battle with the Lochaber axe, and his nickname evolved to Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe ("Black Taylor of the Axe") because of his fighting prowess. Taylor and his family eventually found safety in Cowal. There, descendents of his family and followers became known as Mac-an-taillear ("son of the tailor").

Shorthand

Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow) and graphē or graphie (writing). It has also been called brachygraphy, from Greek brachys (short) and tachygraphy, from Greek tachys (swift, speedy), depending on whether compression or speed of writing is the goal.

Many forms of shorthand exist. A typical shorthand system provides symbols or abbreviations for words and common phrases, which can allow someone well-trained in the system to write as quickly as people speak. Abbreviation methods are alphabet-based and use different abbreviating approaches. Several autocomplete programs, standalone or integrated in text editors, based on word lists, also include a shorthand function for frequently-used phrases. Many journalists use shorthand writing to quickly take notes at press conferences or other similar scenarios.

Plus-minus sign

The plus-minus sign (±) is a mathematical symbol with multiple meanings.

The sign is normally pronounced "plus or minus".

History

A version of the sign, including also the French word "ou" (meaning "or") was used in its mathematical meaning by Albert Girard in 1626, and the sign in its modern form was used as early as William Oughtred's Clavis Mathematicae (1631).