Words that until the popularity of the home computer were the preserve of the printer are nowadays bandied about with nary a thought for their derivation. Their etymology deserves due respect.
Font. Computers got it wrong: the toolbar has the option ‘font’, when it should read ‘typeface’. Typefaces are font families. A font is a specific size, weight and style of a typeface, such as Helvetica Bold Oblique in 11 point. The word font (fount in British English until the coming of the home computer) refers to the process of casting metal type at a foundry.
A compositor selected the type he needed from the upper case or lower case of the type cases.
Leading. Compositors inserted thin strips of lead (each one-point thick) to increase the spacing between lines of text.
An en rule is the width of a lower-case letter n (–).
An em rule is the width of an upper-case letter M (—).
Typo. A typographical error is a mistake made in the process of inputting text. It encompasses errors due to mechanical failure, such as a blocked key, or a slip of the finger, but does not include spelling mistakes
Orphan, widow. Single words or a very short line of text that come to an aesthetically awkward resting place. Orphans are abandoned words within a page of text; widows are the lonely line at the top of a page.
Other terms in use in my office in the early to mid 1980s
Bastard – a non-standard size.
Bottle-arsed – a letter that is wider at the bottom than at the top
Out of truth – not cut square
Clearing pi – picking up a mixed pile of type
Crotchets – brackets
Friars – light patches cause by imperfect ink of the form
Gloss – comment explaining the text
Naked form – a form of type waiting for or stripped of the wooden furniture that held it in place on the press
Note of admiration – exclamation point
Objectionable man – the person that returns type that is more difficult than usual to the type case; this type was objectionable to the other compositors. The objectionable man commanded a higher wage
Ream – a set of 500 pieces of paper (= 20 quires – a set of 24 or 25 pieces of paper)
Verso – left-hand page
Recto – right-hand page
Scabby – uneven or rotten colour in printing
Short sort – type that is about to run out
