diff --git a/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.cc b/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.cc
index de2559a..f546a4d 100644
--- a/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.cc
+++ b/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.cc
@@ -462,21 +462,6 @@ FrameState::FrameState( const Framebuffer &s_last )
   str.reserve( last_frame.ds.get_width() * last_frame.ds.get_height() * 4 );
 }
 
-/* Write a character cell */
-void FrameState::append_cell(const Cell & cell)
-{
-  if ( cell.contents.empty() ) {
-    append( ' ' );
-    return;
-  }
-  /* cells that begin with combining character get combiner attached to no-break space */
-  if ( cell.fallback ) {
-    append( "\xC2\xA0" );
-  }
-  append( cell.contents );
-}
-
-
 void FrameState::append_silent_move( int y, int x )
 {
   if ( cursor_x == x && cursor_y == y ) return;
diff --git a/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.h b/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.h
index 9cc7b5e..188cd1f 100644
--- a/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.h
+++ b/src/terminal/terminaldisplay.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ namespace Terminal {
     void append( const Cell::content_type &contents ) { str.append( contents.begin(), contents.end() ); }
     void append_string( const std::string &append ) { str.append(append); }
 
-    void append_cell(const Cell & cell);
+    void append_cell(const Cell & cell) { cell.print_grapheme( str ); }
     void append_silent_move( int y, int x );
     void append_move( int y, int x );
     void update_rendition( const Renditions &r, bool force = false );
diff --git a/src/terminal/terminalframebuffer.h b/src/terminal/terminalframebuffer.h
index 6324a32..3ec29b5 100644
--- a/src/terminal/terminalframebuffer.h
+++ b/src/terminal/terminalframebuffer.h
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ namespace Terminal {
 
     bool is_blank( void ) const
     {
+      // XXX fix.
       return ( contents.empty()
 	       || contents == " "
 	       || contents == "\xC2\xA0" );
@@ -161,6 +162,22 @@ namespace Terminal {
       size_t len = wcrtomb(tmp, c, &ps);
       contents.insert( contents.end(), tmp, tmp+len );
     }
+
+    void print_grapheme( std::string &output ) const
+    {
+      if ( cell.contents.empty() ) {
+	output.append( ' ' );
+	return;
+      }
+      /*
+       * cells that begin with combining character get combiner
+       * attached to no-break space
+       */
+      if ( cell.fallback ) {
+	output.append( "\xC2\xA0" );
+      }
+      output.append( cell.contents );
+    }
   };
 
   class Row {