Yes, I’m aware it’s not universal. I can’t really explain why it’s so bothersome—it’s similar to occasional words being in a bright colour, or someone poking me every so often while I’m trying to read. It’s probably a pity because, combined with my laziness, it just means that I avoid reading writing with lots of italics. If I’m feeling particularly motivated I’ll modify the text to remove all the italics before reading it.
Yes, I’m aware it’s not universal. I can’t really explain why it’s so bothersome—it’s similar to occasional words being in a bright colour, or someone poking me every so often while I’m trying to read. It’s probably a pity because, combined with my laziness, it just means that I avoid reading writing with lots of italics. If I’m feeling particularly motivated I’ll modify the text to remove all the italics before reading it.
Presumably it would be easy enough to strip out of everything (online) with a tiny bit of css voodoo.