Strike through

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Returned letter, errant, address crossed out. (Name blacked out afterwards )
Crossed-out place name symbolizes exit sign

With strikethrough overwriting or overprinting is usually meant a character, a word or a text line with a continuous line. It is supposed to invalidate what has been crossed out. In a broader sense, this line can be understood as a special form of text markup , as it does not change the text itself, but the addition of a line only influences its meaning. This form of marking is mainly used for texts that cannot be changed afterwards, especially on paper. As a rule, an attempt is made to avoid strike- through by using other correction options, for example by erasing , erasing or overprinting cover color. Strikethrough text is also used specifically as a desired stylistic device, for example in advertising for offer prices, which are preceded by a strikethrough higher amount to convey an (actual or only suggested ) price advantage.

In a figurative sense, one speaks of deleting an unwanted statement or a wrong thought in oral speech, e.g. For example: "You can cancel this project, it will not work."

use

The importance of strikethrough becomes particularly clear when compared with alternative methods of invalidating or making unrecognizable. Strikethrough is often the last resort when other ways of correcting or removing text are not or no longer possible:

  • Even on early historical clay tablets, unwanted parts of the text were not always completely removed (e.g. by flat grinding), but individual words or numerical information were deliberately "crossed out"; probably also to keep the effort lower. In one of the Hittite clay tablets from the 13th century BC Chr. Handed down which rulers the king regarded as "brothers" (ie equivalent). The name Ahhijawa was subsequently crossed out on this board. On a clay tablet Akhenaten , a crossed-out year number is of particular importance, as it allows conclusions to be drawn about the actual year of death of this ancient Egyptian ruler, which would otherwise be unknown.
  • Today the common practice of crossing out handwritten manuscripts is text written on with ballpoint pen or other permanent color that cannot be corrected in any other way. Especially on private notes, it is not worth the effort to apply an opaque paint (e.g. Tipp-Ex ). For official documents, opaque color, roll-off correction tapes, ink erasers, etc. are preferred, since crossed-out text always implies a bit of negligence or lack of care and the covering is less noticeable.
  • For a long time, texts could only be invalidated on the typewriter by crossing them out. Later, opaque paint was developed for fabric tape , and correction tape was used for carbon tapes , which emphasizes the color pigments. However, if errors are only recognized afterwards when the sheet has already been removed, only manual covering or crossing out is possible.
  • Calligraphy and drawings, especially ink drawings on construction plans, of course, cannot be corrected by painting. Here, the drawing is drawn in pencil and the finished drawing is traced in Indian ink. On the other hand, most labels can be crossed out afterwards, provided there is enough space for the correction. When choosing the paper, it is often already considered that it is suitable for correction with a scalpel . Suitable types of cardboard or parchment foils do not fray with the scalpel and leave as few marks as possible. The scalpel only offers a replacement for minor corrections. Scraping, scratching, erasing and applying opaque paint have different disadvantages in addition to crossing out.
  • Strikethrough is also one of the most common correction signs . Words or text passages that should no longer be printed in the final print are crossed out in concept printing. Individual letters are often crossed out with a vertical line, whole text passages with a horizontal line, the beginning and end of which is accentuated with a vertical line, similar in appearance to an elongated "H". This character is repeated in the margin. If a word has been crossed out by mistake, the deletion is canceled by a dotted underline .
  • In pictograms , crossing out has a demonstrative function, for example in prohibition signs or anti-logos .

Strikethrough in word processing

In word processing, crossing out text is usually obsolete, as errors can easily be corrected afterwards. Invalidation by deleting is therefore mostly limited to handwritten texts. If incorrectly typed texts have already been printed, the reprint of a corrected text is usually given preference over an error being crossed out. If you want to use strikethrough text as a stylistic device, this function is available for text markup. Each letter is then output with a crossed horizontal line.

  • Example from advertising: “Product XY on offer. 19.99 EUR Now only 14.99 EUR! “Often handwritten fonts are used deliberately .

Strikethrough in text files can also be used for proofreading. If the user is not familiar with the note functions or other functions for teamwork, the addressee of a text document can send the text back to the sender with strikethrough places in order to specifically point out places that in his opinion should be deleted.

Strikethrough is also supported in markup languages . In classic HTML , <s>durchgestrichen</s>the text “ strikethrough ” is output, in CSS the attribute text-decoration:line-throughcan be used. The Soul package (e.g. ) is available in LaTeX for this purpose . \st{durchgestrichen}

Strikethrough in form contracts

In various form contracts recommended by committees or customary in the industry , the deletion of the preprinted text, and thus basically agreed as a basis, is common or even prescribed. Removal or overwriting with another text is then not permitted. The Baltic and International Maritime Council , for example, writes the full legibility of the text in their license terms of each charter matches expressly.

Cross out in local public transport

In local public transport , a line designation with a line through it indicates a route for the means of transport that deviates from the main line that is not crossed out. A less common variant was the crossed out target sign .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ War for Troy - 7. Dates and facts. zauberspiegel-online.de
  2. ↑ Achit-Aton - the new residence. ( Memento of the original from May 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. meritneith.de, accessed on October 6, 2013  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.meritneith.de
  3. ↑ Indian ink as drawing material: disadvantages. drawanyway.com
  4. ↑ Writing materials. kalligraphie.com
  5. ↑ Werner Lenz: Small hand dictionary. A smart paperback for everyone. Publishing house book and knowledge