A.k.a. "intermittent ink", this term describes the muddled mess of random "dots 'n' dashes" that you typically end up with when feverishly trying to scribble notes with a ballpoint pen on anything but totally "clean 'n' pristine" writing-paper, or when attempting to hastily jot down a few words while holding your paper up against a vertical wall, where gravity ceases to aid ink-flow to the pen-tip.
The infuriating "Morse-code manuscript" debacle tends to manifest itself all the more whenever you're either in a stew or pressed for time, since your hands will tend to perspire a lot more during "nerved up" periods like this, and so the ink will not readily adhere to all of the damp/salty/greasy spots where you've been holding the paper steady while writing. Also, if the paper itself is not the best (like if its surface is excessively flaky/textured, or is coated with a foreign substance, like a cash-register receipt), you may have problems here, as well; this is an especially exasperating dilemma because this type of "inferior" foolscap-scrap may sometimes be the only writing-material that's handy at the time when you unexpectedly have to scrawl down a phone number or other important info/reminder, and so you may encounter this debacle more frequently/unavoidably than you might expect.
by QuacksO August 31, 2018