Page from a book of 1690.
(The slurred appearance represents the printing of the original copy.)

Moderation in the use of italics is so important that in many cases the compositor is justified in ignoring markings for italic in his copy where they are too profuse. The author is often surprised and disappointed at the appearance of his proof when it comes back heavily italicized. Moreover the occurrence of many italics increases the cost of composition because of the greater labor involved.

I. Italicize, subject to the caution just given, any words or phrases which it is desired to emphasize.

II. Foreign words and phrases incorporated into English sentences are sometimes italicized and sometimes not so distinguished. The deciding element in fixing the usage in these cases would seem to be the commonness and familiarity of the word or phrase. For example, the meaning of bona fide (Latin), menu (French), recto (Italian), or stein (German) are as well known as those of most English words. To all intents and purposes these words have been adopted into our language. On the other hand, jeu d'esprit (French) or inter alia (Latin) would probably not be immediately understood by the casual reader. Words of the first type should not be italicized. Words of the second type should be.

Following is a partial list of words of foreign origin which should not be italicized even when the original accents are retained. It is better to retain the accents. They are, however, often omitted. Familiarity plays its part here also. Dénouement is very often written without the accent; née is rarely so written. The absence of accented letters from typewriters, from ordinary fonts of type, and from the matrices ordinarily used in type-casting machines probably contributes largely to their omission.

Following is a short list of words or phrases of foreign origin which are used occasionally but are not familiar enough to be printed in the text type.