When a quote in Russian appears in an American newspaper, the publishers do not switch to the Cyrillic alphabet but rather continue on in Roman. Likewise other languages which are generally printed using alphabets other that the Roman. Occasionally for spice someone will throw in a backwards B to make something look Russian but that is as far as it goes.

With the advent of nonroman alphabet web addresses, I think it will have to become easier to use and depict these letters. It seems to me (having no knowledge) that as above, in foreign newspapers English words are probably spelled out using other alphabets when appropriate.

I would like to see english words, in english, using different alphabets as depicted in foreign publications. Coolness would hinge on the beauty of the printed word as well as its legibility. Some english words would be illegible in other language but would be deduced by context and eventually supplant the roman alphabet version because the roman alphabet version has OU and C and other noncool appearing letter combinations. Variety in spelling can be cool but often borders on cutsie. I think this scheme would capture the cool but avoid the cutsie.
-- bungston, Dec 02 2009

What?
-- phoenix, Dec 02 2009


if I'm reading it right, that's the very thing we're trying to *avoid*: having foreign characters that look like ASCII is/was the basis for quite a number of phishing sites. [-]
-- FlyingToaster, Dec 02 2009


As a Russian language minor, I'm wondering what letter looks like a backwards B...
-- RayfordSteele, Dec 02 2009


Probably thinking of the "ya" sound, [RayfordSteele].

We already use a foreign alphabet to write English. Our own alphabet is runic.
-- nineteenthly, Dec 02 2009


Sorry, should have been backwards R.
-- bungston, Dec 02 2009


Do you mean something like volapuk, the old system for using Latin alphabet characters for Russian characters as mentioned in Spook County, William Gibson?
-- random_patenter_syndrome_victim, Dec 02 2009


UF
KC

Better if done cursively.
-- rcarty, Dec 02 2009


Surely this is what doctors have been doing for decades?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 02 2009


I have a lot of sympathy for that. My handwriting is not easily legible because i have to maintain eye contact with my patients or watch their body language and so on, so i can't look at what i'm writing. Much of it is abbreviated or in Latin anyway. I imagine doctors have the same thing going on.
-- nineteenthly, Dec 02 2009


I think I'd rather have my doctor give me a little less eye contact and a little more legibility. If I turn up at the pharmacy with a well-judged prescription for haptocmabn stbtate, 20kg twite par gay, I figure it's a bad thing.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 02 2009


If you got some good haptocmabn you wouldn't be complaining. Send off to South Dakota for some.
-- bungston, Dec 02 2009


I'm on ptabumeil already. Trust me, they don't mix.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 02 2009



random, halfbakery