Why do CAPITAL LETTERS so annoy us?

janusz · 5 Sep 2009, 04:13 AM

A New Zealand woman has lost her job after sending "confrontational" e-mails filled with capitals.

Malc 44 · 5 Sep 2009, 04:42 AM

I must admit, when I went into a chat room for the very first time, I typed my messages in caps because I thought people would pay more attention to what I was saying. Of course, I just irritated people and was told to stop shouting. I have since accepted that this is normally unacceptable in internet discussions, and have told many other newbies not to do it.

nooby · 5 Sep 2009, 06:07 AM

Quote:

And is there also a physical reason? Are all of those rectangular letters hard on the eyes?

Some studies say yes - indicating that people read by recognizing the shapes of letters within words and that the lowercase versions have more shape differentiations than block capitals.

I almost fail to read text that is in all capital letters.

I can read if it is a line or two but if all the text a whole page is Capital then it takes longer times and I have to start over again and again on lines to geet what they say.

But maybe I am different

n5bb · 5 Sep 2009, 01:09 PM

What do all capital letters in legal documents signify?
So there are legal reasons to use all capitals.

SoMe CaPiTal CoMbInAtIoNs ArE VeRy HaRd To ReAd.

I originally learned to program computers using the FORTRAN language, which for many years only allowed the use of uppercase (all capitals) for the program source code. For the younger readers, "uppercase" and "lowercase" refer to obsolete machines such as "typewriters" and "teletypewriters" which originally used type bars containing two copies of a letter. In a typewriter "A" and "a" were both on the same type bar, and the machine mechanically shifted up and down to cause one of these two letters to be printed through an inked ribbon onto paper. Most early teletypewriters used two cases, with the capital letters on the lower case and the numbers on the upper case. All letters were capitalized when using teletypewriters. In Russian teletypewriters during WWII, the machines used three cases to print Latin and Cyrillic letters and numbers.

In many languages (such as spoken languages, Morse code, and teletypewriter codes) there is no way to represent the case of a character, so many written documents were originally generated in all capitals in the past. Some languages (such as written German) capitalize the first character of all nouns, as proper names are capitalized in English. It took me quite a while to get comfortable with writing n5bb when for many years before the Internet was popular I had always written it N5BB.

Long Live Mixed Case!

bill N5BB

SusanUKF · 6 Sep 2009, 07:08 AM

Yes, when people type in capitals it feels like they are yelling at you, I think it is fine to emphasize a specific word but in general I think most people find it offensive.

Susan

JRobert · 6 Sep 2009, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by n5bb

For the younger readers, "uppercase" and "lowercase" refer to obsolete machines such as "typewriters" and "teletypewriters" which originally used type bars containing two copies of a letter.

The reference goes back even further, to the days of moveable, or manually-set, type. The individual letters were kept in a divided tray, or case, capital letters above, and small letters below.

David · 6 Sep 2009, 09:35 AM

Did you know that the word Typewriter (written in upper or lower case) is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

n5bb · 6 Sep 2009, 01:21 PM

I agree with you on modern email, SusanUKF. But since legal document are often required to emphasize certain points in this manner, official human resources people may feel they need to let people see the otherwise fine print. And early computer messaging used all capitals, so this is a recent change.

Good points, JRobert, and David.

Bill

Adrian Bell · 7 Sep 2009, 12:36 AM

It doesn't bother me, I think that people on forums etc. should pay more attention to their English instead of worrying about the use of caps.. eg. the correct use of the apostrophe, the difference between "your" and "you're" etc., basic primary school stuff like that.

Bamb0 · 10 Sep 2009, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janusz

A New Zealand woman has lost her job after sending "confrontational" e-mails filled with capitals.

Totally insane......

Nothing wrong with caps (In my opinion)

David · 10 Sep 2009, 12:27 AM

It used to bother me at one time... that is until I discovered that the person on the mailing list I belonged to (who always used cap's) was legally blind.

nooby · 10 Sep 2009, 01:27 AM

Then he or she is excused for doing it but it doesn't change that some of us actually have difficulty reading such text. I can have empathy for that persons situation and still fail to read the text.

People are different. Not everybody are as smart or clever as others are.

David · 10 Sep 2009, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nooby

Then he or she is excused for doing it but it doesn't change that some of us actually have difficulty reading such text.

So: you would expect blind people (who use Braille) to indicate that up front, at the start of a new message? - the usual complaint is that Cap's are up and in your face.... not that they are difficult to read; I don't know of anyone myself who has difficulty reading cap's.

nooby · 10 Sep 2009, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

So: you would expect blind people (who use Braille) to indicate that up front, at the start of a new message? - the usual complaint is that Cap's are up and in your face.... not that they are difficult to read; I don't know of anyone myself who has difficulty reading cap's.

Is it not too embarrassing to admit such difficulties as having problem reading caps?

I got very surprised that I had such difficulties. I read the text again and again and failed and could not understand why and I didn't know of anybody else having trouble either.

Fortunately for me at that time we had Ms DOS 3.3? or something and they had programs that very fast could change all caps to the usual in a jiffy.

don't know if such programs exists today.

To admit to others that one have problem reading such text are too embarrassing to admit it is much easier to refer to the net etiquette which is well known and accepted.

If you due to circumstance only can write in caps then why not tell that up front because that would be both friendly and polite. Almost everybody would accept such reasons for doing all caps.

I often tell up front that I am not a good thinker so none expect that what I write is logically consistent and so on.

David · 10 Sep 2009, 05:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nooby

If you due to circumstance only can write in caps then why not tell that up front because that would be both friendly and polite. Almost everybody would accept such reasons for doing all caps.

Some will not.... (I have found) - many blind and otherwise disabled folk have been driven away, from newsgroups, from mailing lists, etc. Often these folk will be seen as disagreeable, because of their disability, due to no fault of their own.

Extremely talented blind folk (with the capability to win debates) who write in Cap's are often told to go visit forums that cater to their own kind... (I have also found)

And no.... I am not blind myself but do have a few friends who are.

5 Sep 2009, 04:13 AM	#1
janusz The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: EU Posts: 4,995	Why do CAPITAL LETTERS so annoy us? A New Zealand woman has lost her job after sending "confrontational" e-mails filled with capitals.

5 Sep 2009, 01:09 PM	#4
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 9,050	Capitalization before the public Internet What do all capital letters in legal documents signify? So there are legal reasons to use all capitals. SoMe CaPiTal CoMbInAtIoNs ArE VeRy HaRd To ReAd. I originally learned to program computers using the FORTRAN language, which for many years only allowed the use of uppercase (all capitals) for the program source code. For the younger readers, "uppercase" and "lowercase" refer to obsolete machines such as "typewriters" and "teletypewriters" which originally used type bars containing two copies of a letter. In a typewriter "A" and "a" were both on the same type bar, and the machine mechanically shifted up and down to cause one of these two letters to be printed through an inked ribbon onto paper. Most early teletypewriters used two cases, with the capital letters on the lower case and the numbers on the upper case. All letters were capitalized when using teletypewriters. In Russian teletypewriters during WWII, the machines used three cases to print Latin and Cyrillic letters and numbers. In many languages (such as spoken languages, Morse code, and teletypewriter codes) there is no way to represent the case of a character, so many written documents were originally generated in all capitals in the past. Some languages (such as written German) capitalize the first character of all nouns, as proper names are capitalized in English. It took me quite a while to get comfortable with writing n5bb when for many years before the Internet was popular I had always written it N5BB. Long Live Mixed Case! bill N5BB

10 Sep 2009, 01:27 AM	#12
nooby Essential Contributor Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Europe Posts: 474	Then he or she is excused for doing it but it doesn't change that some of us actually have difficulty reading such text. I can have empathy for that persons situation and still fail to read the text. People are different. Not everybody are as smart or clever as others are. Last edited by nooby : 10 Sep 2009 at 01:33 AM.

5 Sep 2009, 04:42 AM	#2
Malc 44 Essential Contributor Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 365	I must admit, when I went into a chat room for the very first time, I typed my messages in caps because I thought people would pay more attention to what I was saying. Of course, I just irritated people and was told to stop shouting. I have since accepted that this is normally unacceptable in internet discussions, and have told many other newbies not to do it.

6 Sep 2009, 07:08 AM	#5
SusanUKF Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 5,428	Yes, when people type in capitals it feels like they are yelling at you, I think it is fine to emphasize a specific word but in general I think most people find it offensive. Susan

6 Sep 2009, 09:35 AM	#7
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	Did you know that the word Typewriter (written in upper or lower case) is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

6 Sep 2009, 01:21 PM	#8
n5bb Intergalactic Postmaster Join Date: May 2004 Location: Irving, Texas Posts: 9,050	I agree with you on modern email, SusanUKF. But since legal document are often required to emphasize certain points in this manner, official human resources people may feel they need to let people see the otherwise fine print. And early computer messaging used all capitals, so this is a recent change. Good points, JRobert, and David. Bill

7 Sep 2009, 12:36 AM	#9
Adrian Bell Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Darlington, UK Posts: 938	It doesn't bother me, I think that people on forums etc. should pay more attention to their English instead of worrying about the use of caps.. eg. the correct use of the apostrophe, the difference between "your" and "you're" etc., basic primary school stuff like that.

10 Sep 2009, 12:27 AM	#11
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	It used to bother me at one time... that is until I discovered that the person on the mailing list I belonged to (who always used cap's) was legally blind.