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m Combined the two references of the Moscow-Washington hotline as they refer to the same subject.
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As the use of typewriters grew in the late 19th century, the phrase began appearing in typing and [[stenography]] lesson books as a practice [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]]. Early examples of publications which utilized the phrase include ''Illustrative Shorthand'' by Linda Bronson (1888),<ref>{{cite book|title=Illustrative Shorthand|first=Linda Pennington|last=Bronson|year=1888|location=San Francisco|url=http://www.archive.org/details/illustrativeshor00salmrich}}</ref> ''How to Become Expert in Typewriting: A Complete Instructor Designed Especially for the Remington Typewriter'' (1890),<ref>{{cite book|title=How to Become Expert in Typewriting|first=Lovisa Ellen|last=Barnes|year=1890|url=http://www.archive.org/details/howtobecomeexpe00barngoog}}</ref> and ''Typewriting Instructor and Stenographer's Hand-book'' (1892). By the turn of the 20th century, the phrase had become widely known. In the January 10, 1903, issue of ''Pitman's Phonetic Journal'', it is referred to as "the well known memorized typing line embracing all the letters of the alphabet".<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Fox Typewriter|journal=Pitman's Phonetic Journal|date=January 10, 1903}}</ref> [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Robert Baden-Powell]]'s book ''[[Scouting for Boys]]'' (1908) uses the phrase as a practice sentence for signalling.<ref name="sfb">{{cite book | first = Robert | last = Baden-Powell | authorlink = Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell | title = Scouting for Boys | location = London | publisher = Pearson | year = 1908 | isbn = 0-665-98794-3}}</ref>
As the use of typewriters grew in the late 19th century, the phrase began appearing in typing and [[stenography]] lesson books as a practice [[sentence (linguistics)|sentence]]. Early examples of publications which utilized the phrase include ''Illustrative Shorthand'' by Linda Bronson (1888),<ref>{{cite book|title=Illustrative Shorthand|first=Linda Pennington|last=Bronson|year=1888|location=San Francisco|url=http://www.archive.org/details/illustrativeshor00salmrich}}</ref> ''How to Become Expert in Typewriting: A Complete Instructor Designed Especially for the Remington Typewriter'' (1890),<ref>{{cite book|title=How to Become Expert in Typewriting|first=Lovisa Ellen|last=Barnes|year=1890|url=http://www.archive.org/details/howtobecomeexpe00barngoog}}</ref> and ''Typewriting Instructor and Stenographer's Hand-book'' (1892). By the turn of the 20th century, the phrase had become widely known. In the January 10, 1903, issue of ''Pitman's Phonetic Journal'', it is referred to as "the well known memorized typing line embracing all the letters of the alphabet".<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Fox Typewriter|journal=Pitman's Phonetic Journal|date=January 10, 1903}}</ref> [[Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell|Robert Baden-Powell]]'s book ''[[Scouting for Boys]]'' (1908) uses the phrase as a practice sentence for signalling.<ref name="sfb">{{cite book | first = Robert | last = Baden-Powell | authorlink = Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell | title = Scouting for Boys | location = London | publisher = Pearson | year = 1908 | isbn = 0-665-98794-3}}</ref>


The first message sent on the [[Moscow–Washington hotline]] was the test phrase "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK 1234567890"
The first message sent on the [[Moscow–Washington hotline]] was the test phrase "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK 1234567890".<ref>http://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/hotline/index.htm</ref> Later, during testing, the Russian translators sent a message asking their American counterparts "What does it mean when your people say 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog?'"<ref>{{cite book|last=Rusk|first=Dean|title=As I Saw It: A Secretary of State’s Memoirs|year=1991|publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.|location=London|page=225}}</ref>
<ref>http://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/hotline/index.htm</ref>


During the 20th century, technicians tested typewriters and [[teleprinter]]s with repeated lines of "THE QUICK BROWN FOX..." sentence.<ref>[http://wvegter.hivemind.net/abacus/CyberHeroes/Baudot.htm Foxing (second paragraph from the end)]</ref>
During the 20th century, technicians tested typewriters and [[teleprinter]]s with repeated lines of "THE QUICK BROWN FOX..." sentence.<ref>[http://wvegter.hivemind.net/abacus/CyberHeroes/Baudot.htm Foxing (second paragraph from the end)]</ref>

During testing of the [[Moscow–Washington hotline]] Russian translators sent a message asking their American counterparts "What does it mean when your people say 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog?'"<ref>{{cite book|last=Rusk|first=Dean|title=As I Saw It: A Secretary of State’s Memoirs|year=1991|publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd.|location=London|page=225}}</ref>


==Usage in typography==
==Usage in typography==

Revision as of 17:41, 7 August 2013

The phrase shown in metal moveable type, used in printing presses. (Image is reversed for readability.)

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is an English-language pangram—a phrase that contains all of the letters of the English alphabet. It has been used to test typewriters and computer keyboards, and in other applications involving all of the letters in the English alphabet. Owing to its brevity and coherence, it has become widely known.

History

The earliest known appearance of the phrase is from The Michigan School Moderator, a journal that provided teachers with education-related news and suggestions for lessons.[1] In an article titled "Interesting Notes" in the March 14, 1885 issue, the phrase is given as a suggestion for writing practice: "The following sentence makes a good copy for practice, as it contains every letter of the alphabet: 'A quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.'"[2] Note that the phrase in this case begins with the word "A" rather than "The". Several other early sources also use this variation.

As the use of typewriters grew in the late 19th century, the phrase began appearing in typing and stenography lesson books as a practice sentence. Early examples of publications which utilized the phrase include Illustrative Shorthand by Linda Bronson (1888),[3] How to Become Expert in Typewriting: A Complete Instructor Designed Especially for the Remington Typewriter (1890),[4] and Typewriting Instructor and Stenographer's Hand-book (1892). By the turn of the 20th century, the phrase had become widely known. In the January 10, 1903, issue of Pitman's Phonetic Journal, it is referred to as "the well known memorized typing line embracing all the letters of the alphabet".[5] Robert Baden-Powell's book Scouting for Boys (1908) uses the phrase as a practice sentence for signalling.[6]

The first message sent on the Moscow–Washington hotline was the test phrase "THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG'S BACK 1234567890".[7] Later, during testing, the Russian translators sent a message asking their American counterparts "What does it mean when your people say 'The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog?'"[8]

During the 20th century, technicians tested typewriters and teleprinters with repeated lines of "THE QUICK BROWN FOX..." sentence.[9]

Usage in typography

This pangram is commonly used to display font samples and for testing computer keyboards.

Examples of how the phrase is used in font display

Usage in computing

Quick Brown Fox was the name of a vendor and word processing software package that ran on the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore 64.

Microsoft Word has a command to auto-type the sentence, in versions up to Office 2003, using the command =rand(), and in Office 2007 and later using the command =rand.old().[10]

The phrase plays a key role in the plot of the 2001 Mark Dunn novel Ella Minnow Pea, which is set in a fictitious island nation supposed to be the home of the phrase's originator.

Close variations are often created when the phrase is used in the arts. In the card game Magic: The Gathering, a "joke card" from the Unhinged series was created with a game-related variation of the phrase, "The quick onyx goblin jumps over the lazy dwarf."[11]

In the Peanuts comic strip for May 27, 1974, Snoopy, having been entrusted by Lucy to ghostwrite her a biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, only writes on his typewriter “The quick brown fox jumps over the unfortunate dog”[citation needed][12] because that phrase was all he ever learned to type.

In the 1981 movie "Stripes", the character John Winger (played by Bill Murray) recites the phrase in a cadence at boot camp graduation: "Hut-two-three-four the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog -- SIR!"

The paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould used it as the final line in his essay "The Panda's Thumb of Technology."[13]

The BBC television programme AlphaBlocks, which is an early literacy program, created a song about this phrase. The show features animated block-like alphabet creatures sounding out letters and words and lighting up as they build the phrase letter by letter. At the end they repeat the phrase while a fox jumps over a dog and they sing it faster and faster, with a few variations.[14]

In the epilogue of the Stephen King novella The Sun Dog, the protagonist types a variation of the phrase into his new computer but the printed version is a frightening message regarding the supernatural dog he believed he had trapped.

In The Simpsons episode, "Adventures in Baby-Getting", Lisa leaves behind mysterious pangrams that Bart, Principal Skinner, and Milhouse track down to find out that Lisa has been taking cursive lessons from Skinner's mentor.

In Fez (video game) the phrase is used in a scenario with a fox jumping over a dog to decipher the game's own alphabet, acting like a Rosetta Stone.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Growing Up in Michigan, 1880-1895: One-Room School Lessons - Lesson Plan". Teachers' Stuff from the Michigan Historical Museum. State of Michigan. Retrieved December 12, 2009.
  2. ^ "Interesting Notes". The Michigan School Moderator. 5 (26). Grand Rapids, Michigan: 514. March 14, 1885.
  3. ^ Bronson, Linda Pennington (1888). Illustrative Shorthand. San Francisco.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Barnes, Lovisa Ellen (1890). How to Become Expert in Typewriting.
  5. ^ "The Fox Typewriter". Pitman's Phonetic Journal. January 10, 1903.
  6. ^ Baden-Powell, Robert (1908). Scouting for Boys. London: Pearson. ISBN 0-665-98794-3.
  7. ^ http://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/hotline/index.htm
  8. ^ Rusk, Dean (1991). As I Saw It: A Secretary of State’s Memoirs. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. p. 225.
  9. ^ Foxing (second paragraph from the end)
  10. ^ kb212251 Microsoft support
  11. ^ Now I Know My ABC's, Gatherer
  12. ^ Alt.comics.peanuts, Google Groups
  13. ^ Gould, Stephen Jay (1987). "The Panda's Thumb of Technology." Natural History 96 (1): 14-23; Reprinted in Bully for Brontosaurus. New York: W.W. Norton. 1992, pp. 59-75.
  14. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/watch-alphablocks-in-action-as-the-quick-brown-fox-jumps-over-the-lazy-dog/11244.html Only accessible from IP addresses in the UK.
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