Warp wrote:
>   (Another theory I have is this: Cursive is often used in literature for
> emphasis. 

The way I learned it, it's not "cursive" but "italic."  ("Cursive" purely 
means hand-written words all strung together rather than as block writing. 
I'm sure you know what I mean.)

That nit aside, I was also taught that quotes go around articles, but book 
titles (and foreign words) are in italic, as is emphasis. And that's 
indicated in handwriting by underlining.

Thus, _this_ word will probably show as _italic_ on your screen, if you're 
using something that does things like make *this* word bold.

> maybe someone got confused and thought that cursive and quotes
> are also interchangeable when denoting emphasis.)

I tend to believe it's just laziness and ignorance over an honest mistake 
someone was trying not to make. But then I'm cynical. :-)

-- 
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   Human nature dictates that toothpaste tubes spend
   much longer being almost empty than almost full.

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