Bold facts for kids

Bold text is a way to make certain words or phrases stand out in writing. It makes the text darker and thicker than the rest of the words. Think of it like shouting a word on paper!

We use bold text to draw attention to important information, like key terms, titles, or warnings. It helps readers quickly spot what's most important in a paragraph or document.

What is Bold Text?

Bold text is a style of writing where letters are made thicker and darker. It's used to give emphasis, meaning it makes certain words or sentences more noticeable. Before computers, printers used special, heavier typefaces to create bold effects.

How Do We Make Text Stand Out?

Making text stand out, or adding emphasis, can be done in many ways.

• Bold text is one common way. It makes words look strong and important.
• Italic text makes words lean to the side. This is often used for titles of books, foreign words, or to show a character's thoughts.
• Sometimes, people use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS to make words seem very loud or urgent.
• Changing the font style, like using a fancy or unique font, can also make text noticeable. For example, some old German texts used a style called Fraktur to highlight words.
• Another way to emphasize words is by adding extra space between the letters, like in the German sperrsatz style. This makes the word look stretched out and different.
• In some languages, like Traditional Chinese, special marks are placed next to characters to show emphasis. These are called emphasis marks.

Why is Bold Text Important?

Bold text helps us read and understand information more easily. Imagine reading a textbook without any bold words – it would be hard to find the main ideas!

• It helps you quickly scan a page and find the most important points.
• It highlights new vocabulary words, so you know what to focus on.
• It can show headings or titles, guiding you through different sections of a document.
• In older books, before bold text was common, writers used italics or capitalization to make words stand out. For example, in Shakespeare's plays from the 1600s, italics were used for character names and important words.

Bold text is a simple but powerful tool in writing and design. It helps writers communicate their message clearly and helps readers find the information they need.

Images for kids

• 

  Example of black letter emphasis using the technique of changing fonts

• 

  An example of sperrsatz. Note wider spacing of the word gesperrt ("letterspaced").

• 

  Example of emphasis marks in Traditional Chinese, written vertically

• 

  Shakespeare's play Othello, printed in 1623. Bold type had not yet been invented. Emphasis is provided by using italics, used for key words, stage directions and the names of characters, and capitalization of key words.