To do this, you can go to the beginning of the first word of your text, press CTRL+T and then go after the last word you want formatted and press CTRL+T again. CTRL+T inserts the format tag for italics (CTRL+B for bold, U for underlined and S for strike out)
There is also a formatting box similar to the CTRL+K box for color, but I cannot recall it's shortcut at the moment.
Although your suggestion is a good one and it would be helpful, currently, the way described is the only way to do it right now. Hope this helped.
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