Count the number of lines of text in a given element.

jquery.getLines.js

void function $getLines($){    
    function countLines($element){
        var lines          = 0;
        var greatestOffset = void 0;

        $element.find('character').each(function(){
            if(!greatestOffset || this.offsetTop > greatestOffset){
                greatestOffset = this.offsetTop;
                ++lines;
            }
        });
        
        return lines;
    }
    
    $.fn.getLines = function $getLines(){
        var lines = 0;
        var clean = this;
        var dirty = this.clone();
        
        (function wrapCharacters(fragment){
            var parent = fragment;
            
            $(fragment).contents().each(function(){                
                if(this.nodeType === Node.ELEMENT_NODE){
                    wrapCharacters(this);
                }
                else if(this.nodeType === Node.TEXT_NODE){
                    void function replaceNode(text){
                        var characters = document.createDocumentFragment();
                        
                        text.nodeValue.replace(/[\s\S]/gm, function wrapCharacter(character){
                            characters.appendChild($('<character>' + character + '</>')[0]);
                        });
                        
                        parent.replaceChild(characters, text);
                    }(this);
                }
            });
        }(dirty[0]));
        
        clean.replaceWith(dirty);

        lines = countLines(dirty);
        
        dirty.replaceWith(clean);
        
        return lines;
    };
}(jQuery);

Buggy! Counts 1 line minimum, misses lines for certain cases of elaborated nested content. Maybe to do with mono-space.

Possible solution to problem above: store container's offsetTop add another line for each different <character/> offsetTop that isn't equal to the parent's?