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Apr 2, 1999

This week's theme
Words that go out of their way to not apply to themselves

This week's words
phonetic
abbreviation
monosyllabic
hemidemisemiquaver
descender
diminutive
opuscule

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descender

descender (di-SEN-duhr) noun

1. One that descends.

2. The part of the lowercase letters, such as g, p, and q, that extends below the other lowercase letters. A letter with such a part.

[Middle English descenden, from Old French descendre, from Latin descendere : de- + scandere, to climb.]

"Sloop is not a single font but a set of three related fonts--Sloop One, Two, and Three--that offer different degrees of ornamentation. Sloop One's lowercase letters have relatively short and straight ascenders and descenders."
Erfert Fenton; Type style; Macworld; May 1995.

Why does descender have ascenders but no descenders among its nine letters?

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