Does the optometrist swap answered-the-waffle-iron jokes with the receptionist as soon as you’re out of earshot? You never really know because it’s not considered good optometric bedside manner to tell the examinee how far down the chart he or she is supposed to be able to read. To qualify for 20/20 vision, you have to be able to read line 8 at the customary examination distance of twenty feet. It’s the line just above the red bar: DEFPOTEC. Some slack is built into the definition of normal vision, so many people can read line 9 as well, especially if the light is good.
Helpful hint: only nine letters are used in the standard Snellen eye chart. All occur at least once in easy lines 1 through 5. So if you think you see a G down in the fine print, it’s a C or an O.
Want to show off? The bottom line is PEZOLCFTD.