Hacker News Reader

Comment by eru | Hacker News Reader

Too bad we gave up on that.

I have compoſe-f-s as the key combination for long s in my .xcompoſe file: https://github.com/kragen/xcompose. You, too, can compoſe miſsives uſing our dear antiquated friend, ſhould you ſo deſire.

Thanks! (Though I'd ideally want my computer to take that decision for me.)

English is a living language, you can always try and revive it. It might give your resume a certain je ne sais qua ;)

s/qua/quoi/

ſ/sais/ſais

Actually, my `we' meant the Germans. And not so much only the long-s, but also Fraktur.

The Nazis banned Fraktur, probably because Hitler didn't like it, and we never re-introduced it. As an irony of history, for some people Fraktur now carries connotations of the Third Reich. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiqua-Fraktur_dispute)

I have a few old books in Fraktur. Faust and translations of Shakespeare's plays.

P.S. For my resume, my name only has the wrong kind of s.

I have a large number of old books in Fraktur (mostly Lutheran theology). I read so much more German in Fraktur that I find it easier to follow than the Latin script. It always amazes me that there are a good number of Germans who cannot read it at all. My wife (who also is well-versed in Fraktur, as well as the old German "saw-tooth" cursive) has had a number of German-speakers ask her to transcribe Fraktur to modern script. I mean, sure, it's different. Some of the capitals are especially strange, and there are a few more ligatures, but it's not that hard.

Ever watched both parts of "Die Nibelungen Saga" silent movie version from 1924 by Fritz Lang? After 4.5 hours reading these old letters you will hate them ..

Hey, we number theorists still use fraktur all the time! Prime ideals in Dedekind domains are usually denoted with fraktur letters.

Similar story here: I have a lot of c.18 and older antiquarian theology texts that feature the long s. Most of mine are in English, though.

I agree it's not that hard - I don't even speak German and I had no trouble reading the Fraktur samples I found on wikipedia.

When I chat, occasionally, I'll þrow in a þorn, or, depending if it's voiced, ðen I'll use ðe eð [eth]. Most people just pretend it was an artifact in ðe session.

Please. It's je ne sais quoi ("I don't know what"). εὐ πραττειν...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com