r/AVoid5

12K archived posts · Aug 2016 – Sep 2026

AVoid that fifth glyph!

r/AVoid5

This is a subforum supporting a community that avoids that filthy fifth glyph. Individuals in this community can post anything as long that fifth symbol of our ABC's is totally missing. This task can look daunting at first but it is not as hard as it looks. This is an arduous skill, it is not a trivial task.

Created Aug 5, 2016

42KMembers (last snapshot)

12KArchived posts

######What is this Subforum?

So you know that symbol that sits amid "D" and "F" in our ABCs (and "W" and "R" on most typing boards)? r/AVoid5 is a subforum in which all of us as a community avoid that filthy symbol, from this point forward known as "fifthglyph." Anybody can post about anything as long as fifthglyph is totally missing. This is no trivial task, but a skill. It can look daunting at first, but you'll find it's not so bad. A book of synonyms or our wiki will aid in your writing.

FYI: Many visitors ask what's up with capitalizing "v" in "AVoid5." This is an allusion to A Void, a brilliant book of fifthglyph-shunning wordplay by a Gallic author who was part of a writing-constraint group known as Oulipo. Also, "V" is 5 in Roman digits. (Join our book club!)

######Why Do All This?

Fifthglyph is far too common among our vocabulary, barging its way into so many words willy-nilly. It arrogantly thinks nobody can function without it, that it's "too big to fail." And now a group known as "/r/-mbold-nth--" (dash = fifthglyph omission) is trying to glorify that symbol by randomly bolding it in various posts across all subforums of this domain. Why, you ask? Just to start a silly fad, hoping it will catch on. This group will and must fail. Artificially forcing such a fad is truly tacky, and this community will not stand for it. Join us in voicing your opposition! A small party is thrown in your honor if you do.

Additionally, this community wants to grow our skill in writing without fifthglyph by working jointly. Discussions on this will occur occasionally.

######Community Activity

1. Posting sans fifthglyph throughout any and all subforums you visit. Link back to r/AVoid5 in your post to grow our community.

2. Voicing your disgust upon any occasion of finding a bold fifthglyph. Again, link back to this community.

3. Chatting with us in our Discord, IRC or Matrix.

4. Participation in monthly translation trials.

5. Posting and participating in fortnightly community writing prompts.

6. Posting and participating in discussions about how to sound natural without fifthglyph.

######Community Laws

I. If you post anything in this subforum which has a fifthglyph in bold, or troll by posting just that glyph -- that's a ban.

II. It is okay if your login ID -- your virtual alias -- contains fifthglyph. Not your fault you had it prior to finding this sub.

III. It's hard to drop fifthglyph from your writing and still sound natural. All of us should assist AV-oids in this task, and in doing so, our community will grow strong.

IV. Normally, you can't just sub a dash or high comma (crown'd) for a fifthglyph, or knowingly misprint a word to avoid it. That's lazy. Mods will only allow this in discussions about switching bad words for good words, or in a location, such as:

You should swap "w-" for "all of us"

I am from B-rlin, G-rmany

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