The Death of Rich Text
Sometimes you don't have a choice. Maybe you are sending a text message. Maybe you are using a contact form on a website that only accepts plain text. Maybe you are a developer writing a `README.txt` file. In these environments, you lose your ability to use Ctrl+I.
But language needs emphasis. Without it, tone gets lost. "I did not say he stole the money" has seven different meanings depending on which word you stress. In speech, we use volume. In writing, we use italics.
Unicode to the Rescue
When you can't use formatting tags, you can use formatting characters. An italic text generator converts your standard alphabet into "Mathematical Italic" symbols. These are distinct characters in the Unicode standard that just happen to look like slanted letters.
So instead of writing: "I *really* need this done by Friday" (which looks okay but informal), you can write: "I ππππππ¦ need this done by Friday."
It looks cleaner. It looks like you have hacked the system to enable rich text where it shouldn't exist.
Book Titles and Works of Art
Grammatically, titles of books, movies, and albums should be italicized. It always pains me to write "I just watched Inception" in a text message without the styling. It feels wrong.
Using a generator allows you to maintain proper grammar even in a YouTube comment section. "You have to read πβπ πΊππππ‘ πΊππ‘π ππ¦." It satisfies the inner grammar nerd in all of us.
Compatibility Check
The only downside is that these characters are not present in all fonts. If the person receiving your email is using a very old device or a specific system font that lacks the mathematical character set, they might see boxes (β‘β‘β‘β‘β‘). However, support is nearly universal on modern smartphones (iOS and Android) and Windows/Mac systems. Itβs a safe bet for 99% of your communication, but maybe don't use it for a legal contract.