Write It Quick! Quiz | English

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Most people are familiar with shorthand's most basic rules: write a word like it sounds and drop the vowels (and dotted "i's" and crossed "t"), using the sentence as context. Upon this basis, what have I said about the cat in the hat?

Answer: fat

Speedwriting was developed by Louisiana Tech University professor, Joe M. Pullis in the 1980s. Pullis' style uses an alphabetic shorthand that is easy to learn and transcribe. The method allows some leeway for interpretation, depending on the individual writing and transcribing their own work.

Speedwriting uses several shortcut forms of common words. I have deciphered two in the image, a single forward-facing curve is the word "the." A short backward facing curve is the word "is/his" (again using context to determine which).

The sentence reads, "The cat in the hat is fat."

2. The dropping of an interior vowel of a word is very common, but sometimes a vowel is necessary to determine the word, because without it you lose an essential sound. As such, where does my cat like to play?

Answer: hay

In this sentence the i-sound in "my," the a-sound in "play," and the a-sound in "hay" are all essential to determining the word. I've shown you a second shortcut word, a larger backward facing curve is the word "to." The sentence reads, "My cat likes to play in the hay."

3. Another speed adding rule is dropping all those humps in the letter "m." It becomes a single downward facing hump. The letter "n" remains the same and/or is absorbed into another shortcut sound. What improved in the sentence shown?

Answer: mood

There are multiple examples of the use of the single-humped "m" in the question above. Additionally, I included another shortcut word with a period, placed about mid-sentence height, which means "a" or "an." The sentence reads, "My mood improved in a country mile."

4. Part of writing quickly is finding fast ways of showing prefixes and suffixes. The means of showing that a word has the suffix "ing" is a short underline under the last letter of the shorthand word. With that in mind and considering context, what was my cat likely doing?

Answer: licking

In this example, my cat is both sitting and licking, both words ending in "ing." "Looking" is also a possibility of that shorthand, but it doesn't make sense in the sentence. I have included three additional shortcuts. Just like with "m", a "w" turns into a single humped curve (and this makes sense, as your hump face downward with a "m" and upward with a "w").

The "w" standing alone can be "was" or "with." The single slash upward will be either "it" or "at" (and we added an "s" to this shortcut, making it "its"). Lastly the "and" which many people use and understand already.

This sentence reads, "My cat was sitting and licking its fur."

5. Another common suffix is the letters "ed" or "ted". In speedwriting, it is shown as a short dash at the end of a word. With this prefix in mind, how did my cat feel about baths?

Answer: hated

In this sentence, you use the rule of an essential "a" combined with the rule of the suffix and get "hated." This particular sentence reads, "My cat hated getting bathed."

6. Another common suffix is the letters "tion" or "sion." I am not entirely sure why, but speedwriting turns these suffixes into the single letter "j." Along with the dotted "i" and crossed "t" losing their parts, the cursive "j" loses its swag, becoming just a stick (no lower curve, no dot). In this image, what faced tension?

Answer: nation

This sentence includes both a "tion" and a "sion" word. Again, using context, the sentence is read, "The nation faced tension due to banning cats."

7. Another common suffix is the letters "ty" or "ity." This is shown as a small letter "t" in superscript at the end of the word. Considering these rules, what location's density made some move to the country?

Answer: city

Yes I know the word "city" does not start with an "s." However, it sounds like it does, which is the basis of speedwriting. You look at that word and say, "ssss (sound)" "ity"...combined it makes "city." In this particular sentence, I've also included yet another single-letter shortcut, the stand-alone letter "v" means "of" or "have." This sentence is read, "The density of the city forced some to move to the country."

8. This particular sentence introduces yet another suffix, that of "ly" or "ily." This suffix is identified as a lowercase "L" in superscript at the end of a word. Given the implications of this rule, how was the city of Brotherly Love flooded?

Answer: suddenly

This sentence includes two instances of using the "ly" suffix in the words "suddenly" and "brotherly." There is an additional indicator in this quiz, one I hope you picked up on from the question, and that is one of proper nouns. The shorthand indicator in speedwriting of a proper noun is a small curve under the last letter of the word that is to be capitalized.

In this case, both "brotherly" and "love" bear the indicator, making them capitalized when you transcribe this sentence. The sentence is read, "Suddenly the city of Brotherly Love was flooded."

9. While there are many suffixes and prefixes, sometimes a mere sound is shortened in some way. "S" sounds are common throughout languages, so both "sh" and "st" have their own unique shortcut. The "st" sound is written as a large capital "S" and the "sh" sound is written as a lowercase "s" with a line across it. As such, what happened in the still of the night?

Answer: wished

This particular example has two words with the "st" sound, those being "still" and "star," and two words using the "sh" sound which includes "she" and "wished." "Washed" is again a possible interpretation of the word shown, but it doesn't make sense in the context of the sentence. This sentence is read, "In the still of the night she wished on a star."

10. Speedwriting includes many rules on suffixes, prefixes, common sounds, and even punctuation. There is one way to show that a word is a proper noun, however, and that is to include a short curve under the last letter of the word to be capitalized. As a result, which Texas aunt did my cat move in with?

Answer: Sally

As with frilly curves on letters, dots on "i" and crosses on "t," the letter "x" written in cursive loses it's cross. This sentence contains three proper nouns, "Sushi" (my cat), "Texas" (the state where my aunt resides), and "Aunt Sally" (my dear aunt's given name). Technically, I could have dropped the "n" in the word "aunt" as a shortcut for the "an" sound is just an "a." As such, this sentence in context is read, "My cat Sushi lives in Texas with Aunt Sally."

Source: Author TemptressToo

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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Write It Quick! Trivia Quiz

One of my fondest odd skills is the ability to write in shorthand. This style of speedwriting was developed by Professor Joe M. Pullis, and this quiz is a lesson in the basic rules. My husband enjoys deciphering my scribbles, perhaps you will too.

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