A shorthand puzzle

[ChristineM]

I agree with HeatherLynne - if you rotate it the left side now becomes even and the right uneven just like when we write or for that matter, take shorthand.  I used to do Pitmans and the full stop was "x" and a new paragraph was "//".  Looking at the image upside down, I can't make out any obvious punctuation signs apart from three extra long right to left slanting strokes which may mean a new paragraph - or not!  By the way, assume this is English shorthand and not shorthand of a foreign language?

[Greensleeves]

I have turned it upside down, it still looks like Pitman but without punctuation - although those slashes could of course be doing that job.  Whichever way up, I think we would need some context to be able to stand any chance of transcribing.  There are some outlines I can 'read' without any confidence and if I try to put them together it's just gibberish.

[gingernut1]

I did Gregg shorthand some years ago and I am sure its not that.  It is worth remembering that the writer will have his own 'style' as in normal longhand and also his own shortforms - these could be indecipherable to anyone who didn't know what the piece was about.   Clues are needed as to content.

[Finley 1]

100 yrs ago I did Pitman  and this looks very similar.   What we must remember all shorthand is the same as all handwriting... no two are exact..

I can decipher one or two odd words though. ??   attached is a similar piece from the web..

uhm  which no doubt we all recognise..

ok will have a go later

oops  all stated in better dialect in previous post   xin
xin  test the old brain cells..

[Greensleeves]

I agree that all shorthand writers develop their own style.  Whilst our shorthand might have looked like the Pitman example posted by Xin, I think it deteriorated pretty quickly once we started getting up speed!  I used to work as a verbatim shorthand writer, and I know I certainly had my own shortforms for many common words, phrases, commonly-used place names and legal terms.  So I agree with Gingernut that we would need clues to start us off. 

I would be interested to hear from the OP as to the context of this piece, such as where it was found and in what circumstances as that sort of info might give us clues.  For example, if it was stuffed into an ancient ledger we might reasonably speculate that it related to business, but if it was found in a soldier's wallet this would suggest something closer to the heart.

[shanreagh]

.....
 For example, if it was stuffed into an ancient ledger we might reasonably speculate that it related to business, but if it was found in a soldier's wallet this would suggest something closer to the heart.

......
Or a recipe left on the kitchen bench, for me a non shorthand reader, as my flatmate was going to be later home and wanted me to start the meal for her.   

[tillypeg]

Hope we can get some clues from the OP - we did have fun with transcriptions a while ago, it set me off and I unearthed my old New Era books and did some quick revision.  They have that slightly musty "stored in a box in the loft" smell about them, quite nostalgic really, going back to the late 70's and my secretarial course at Teesside Poly.

[Greensleeves]

I think my shorthand is 'old era' since I did my training in the mid 1960s 

I see your Middlesbrough links, Tillypeg - my father came from Middlesbrough and I spent many happy holidays there with my grandparents, as well as at Whitby and Redcar.

[tillypeg]

(apologies as off topic)

Greensleeves - I had many holidays at Whitby too, also Staithes.  I remember one little holiday flat which was right opposite the general/toy shop in Staithes, also remember the tasty slab toffee which was made by an old lady who always wore the typical Staithes bonnet.  The toffee was like peanut brittle without the peanuts and was served in a paper cone.   She would sit in the porch of her old cottage and sell the toffee.  Little did I know then that my 3xgt grandmother Sarah Taylor was born in Staithes in 1777!