In a time when easy word processing has allowed for typeface styles such as italics to be easily incorporated into text, the importance of underlined (or underscored) text has been greatly diminished. Underlined text is often used in the middle of sentences indiscriminately as a way of providing emphasis, sometimes in superfluous addition to italics and boldface. Even when a discerning individual attempts to use the underscore correctly, he or she often ends up applying the attribute to a word or phrase that does not require an underline. Learn when to underline and the simple rules of underlining words.