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Not sure if this belongs here, but I'm gonna ask it anyway.

To prevent confusing the variable 'x' with the multiplication symbol, I write the variable 'x' as two 'c's, one alongside its reflection, if you get what I mean.

In manipulating equations with the variable t, I often confuse myself because it looks like '+'. Any tips?

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8  
Curl up your t's. – J. M. Aug 2 '12 at 17:32
1  
Do you need to use the variable $t$? – William Aug 2 '12 at 17:33
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And you can cross your z's so they don't look like 2's. – GEdgar Aug 2 '12 at 17:35
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Any $\large +$ips: Use a compu$\large +$er! – draks ... Aug 2 '12 at 17:38
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John Kerl has a web page full of advice about clear mathematical handwriting, including the particular problem you cited, that of distinguishing lowercase 't' from a plus sign. – MJD Aug 3 '12 at 2:08
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closed as off topic by Arthur Fischer♦, t.b., Alex Becker♦, Matt N., Zhen Lin Aug 3 '12 at 2:04

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1 Answer

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  • To write constant/regular letter t's, include a curl at the end.
  • To write variable t's, slant the letters base/column. ie. take special care to start the tip of the letter slightly farther than you usually do compared to regular 't'. Then continue downward and leftward a bit to achieve the slanted look. See the Calibri font in Itlaic, specifically as well as the default font of tex; observe the special feel of the variable letter and you should be good to go.
  • Try to shorten the horizontal slash on the letter 't' while widening it for the 'plus' and minus signs. This way, the minus should be a little wider than a hyphen or a negative sign while the plus sign should be the minus sign but squared!

If anyone can edit with pictures, please do.

For the x's: You can write the right side (the line starting from the upper right) as the 'sh' symbol from IPA but slanted. That's like an integral symbol $\int$ but also slanted. Then you can just write the left side as a regular straight line thus coming very close to $x$

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