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Dec 23, 2005

This week's theme
Words related to words, writing, and language

This week's words
mogigraphia
sprachgefuhl
verso
epos
curlicue

This week's comments
AWADmail 192

Next week's theme
Words to describe the Earth's features

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curlicue

curlicue or curlycue (KUR-li-kyoo) noun

A decorative curl or twist, in a signature, calligraphy, etc.

[From curly, from curl, from crul (yes, that's how it was spelled earlier) + cue, from Old French cue (tail).]

See more usage examples of curlicue in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

To find some great curlicues, try the US Declaration of Independence. The most prominent signature is of John Hancock, the first signer of the document. Today the term John Hancock has become an eponym for a signature.

"Book covers are likely to be pink with snappy titles in curlicue fonts and images of a woman's body part (often long, bare legs tapering to a couple of high-heeled exclamation points)."
Tahree Lane; Women's Lives Are Reflected in 'Chic Lit' Genre; Toledo Blade (Ohio); Nov 13, 2005.

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