This kanji looks completely different in different fonts. Even jisho has the two variations on the same page. How come? How am I supposed not to mix them up?
Printed typeface vs handwritten.
Just like a, g or b in Latin script have also their different looking in a serif printed typeface and in handwriting, so do the kanji.
If you are not familiar at recognizing kanji in various font/styles variations, it would be a good idea to use the āfont randomizerā user script.
Search for that on the forum to find the dedicated thread, it has also several screenshots.
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Also, I think nowadays (unicode-wise at least),
令 is the standard Chinese display form of the character,
令 is the standard Japanese display form.
Thereās a handful of characters like that, for example ē“ vs. ē“
Iām using markup to specify between them:
<span lang="zh">令</span>
<span lang="jp-jp">令</span>
Googling it sounds like in this case the official Chinese version of the character was updated to match the older handwritten form, whereas in Japanese both forms still exist, itās just one of those things where characters can be written slightly differently in different contexts. (like printed vs. handwritten)
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Can you run me over how to get firefox to display japanese instead of chinese characters again? I canāt find your last explanation (and am running a new configuration)
Iām pretty sure in Chinese too both variants exist. Itās just that the so called āsimplified Chineseā is actually a standardization of printing based on cursive handwriting (like if textbooks, newspapers and poker books printed in English had started to consistently use Lucida instead of Times Roman or Helvetica).
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Sure, if you set one of your browser language preferences to Japanese (along with English and whatever else you want), those characters should default to Japanese when not specified.
Looks like in Firefox itās this area of preferences:
It looks like āChooseā¦ā ā adding Japanese to the list and moving it down to the bottom of the list works for me.
(the menu is a little confusingā¦ I would have thought Set Alternatives would be the way to go but Choose seemed the one to pick) (normally I use Chrome)
If English is still the primary one (top of the list in Choose), it shouldnāt cause any major trouble, but it does seem like sometimes websites default to Japanese if itās specified for some reason, so if that ends up being annoying feel free to turn it off - itās only a few characters anyway, and getting used to both forms of them isnāt the worst thing in the world.
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In general, yes, but it seems like the ātraditionalā non-simplified characters in this case match the simplified Chinese usage moreso than the Japanese (if wiktionary is to be believed at least):
Iām definitely not one to ask about usage in Chinese though! So I certainly wouldnāt be shocked if itās used in some capacity, I just thought the computer formatting by language setting was interesting. (or I might be misunderstanding what you mean)
Can I mark myself right for returning āmiddleā instead of ācenterā for äø央?
Yeah, I would
ć¹ćć¼ć means slim. In Japanese.
I mean, it can mean well-dressed in English too, but they kinda warped it.
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Itās a nice addition to the katakana topic going on right now 
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Yup, letās move it there. Weāve already talked about dogs, mayo and åęć.
But it is derived from smart right?
I thought smart meant āintelligentā exclusively
Nah, someone can be smartly dressed, as in well dressed / fashionable. Itās just an old fashioned usage in English.
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It is.
You look smart is something a dad might say to his son on prom night. (or really any time the son is dressed up). As noted, itās not used by young people.
