Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 July 13

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July 13

Line of sight

An activity book for students of Portuguese has a picture of a patient sitting at a table opposite his optician. One of those letter boards for testing eyesight is visible on the wall. The lines run:

E 1

F P 2

- O Z 3

- E D 4

- C F D 5

- F C Z P 6

<--- green bar --->

- E L O P Z D 7

- E F P O T E O 8

<--- red bar --->

There are eleven lines in all, of which the last three are indistinct. Lines 6 - 8 were deciphered using a magnifying glass. I don't think this arrangement is used in Britain. Is there a theory behind the way the letters are arranged, and does the arrangement vary from country to country according to language? The picture is captioned thus:

- Estou a ver que o senhor precisa de óculos.

- Como sabe isso antes de me examinar, senhor doutor?

- Desconfiei quando o vi entrar pela janela.

(- I am seeing that you need glasses.

- How do you know this before examining me, mister doctor?

- I was doubtful when I saw you enter through the window).

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.30.198.76 (talk) 10:37, 13 July 2020 (UTC)

Nice way to sneak that cute joke in. :) You could start with Snellen chart to learn more. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:07, 13 July 2020 (UTC)