Recto and Verso

[gromit]

I've noticed that these are listed as common words but I don't think I've ever seen them outside of word games. What do other people think about whether they are common or rare?

[Morbius]

I'm familiar with both words because I have an interest in books and book collecting, but I'd concede that they're not words in common usage.  Nonetheless, I think they conform with Alan's definition of common words (i.e. words that would be known to an educated native English speaker).

[bobbi]

Both are familiar to me too. I read a lot but no longer collect books - much prefer to leave storage issues to our public library system.

[birdy]

Both familiar to me too - but as a former librarian, I'd often have to check the verso of a title page to find publishing information.

[Calilasseia]

Just found this.

Recto and verso are sometimes used to describe upper and underside of pinned specimens of Lepidoptera in museums. Though I'm not familiar with many other usages.

[a non-amos]

I am only familiar with these words by my experience in typography.

By literal definition, that means writing typos.   

[Alan W]

I've been pondering this, on and off, for the last six years! While plenty of people are familiar with these words, that generally results from some specialist interest. So there would no doubt be plenty of Chi players who don't know the words - apart from seeing them in Chi solutions.

Having considered both sides of the page question, I've decided that recto and verso will be treated as rare words from now on.

[gromit]

Thank you.

[les303]

Just don't combine the two or i could end up with an unfair advantage & an " overt - score. "