ALL CAPS = Shouting (this is not new)

[Shalot]

One of the first things you learn about in a business communication class is email and internet etiquette. You are told not to type in all caps because a message written in all caps is seen as shouting. I have heard and read this so many times and I thought by now everyone would know this. But, there are people at work who still type emails with the caps lock on for the entire message.

A few days ago, one of the guys in my office who types in all caps (we'll call him Ted) got an email response from someone else who was mad at him for typing in all caps and that person let him have it and told him not to shout in his emails.

Ted was irritated because someone got offended by his use of all caps. Ted wanted to know why people were so sensitive and he wanted to know who decided that all caps means shouting. Ted thought he was just typing a message with the caps lock on and the capital letters didn't add any additional meaning to the actual words he was using.

From Ted's perspective, the internet came along and with the internet came email and then later came cell phones and text messages and facebook, and with these new technologies came new spellings and abbreviations of words and phrases. To Ted, the use of all caps to indicate shouting is as new as lol or omg or rofl.

I was listening to Ted and not really hearing or caring and I was thinking he needed to just move on. I was thinking about what a dope he was and I wondered how it could be so difficult for him to understand WHY THIS LOOKS LIKE SHOUTING.

And then I started to wonder if the use of all caps to indicate shouting really did begin with the widespread use of the internet. It didn't. People used capital letters to add meaning to their written words before the widespread use of internet and email. In works of fiction, for example, authors used capital letters when their character was shouting in the dialogue. I have a book here on my desk that was published in 1982 and there are phrases written in all capital letters to indicate excitement or shouting.

With all that said, I am on Ted's side. Ted's job is deadline oriented . Ted has to deal with the worst software that ever existed on what is probably the slowest network operating in this entire state. Ted works with that software most hours of the day and often has to switch over to email to make a request so that he can continue his job function. Time is not on Ted's side and it's easier to leave the caps lock on for those routine requests.

At face value, these excuses that I've listed for Ted seem kind of silly. Why can't Ted get over it, get with the program and act like he has a 4th education and type a decent email. At one time, I would have dismissed Ted as an uneducated old fart who needed to exit the workforce immediately.

But, I've been doing Ted's job and I don't feel that way anymore. I've come to the conclusion that the most valuable thing I got out of any English class I ever took was the reminder that we must mind our manners. It is rude to point out another person's grammar or writing mistakes unless you are that person's instructor in a classroom setting or that person's mother. If someone is typing in all caps, it's probably best just to assume innocence and leave it at that.

[JuniperWoolf]

Yeah, I always thought that it was stupid that some people get actually angry when others use all caps. It really doesn't matter. I use capitol letters to indicate the POINT of my post, so that certain words and phrases STAND OUT. It doesn't mean that I'm insane and talk normally for entire paragraphs with random words and phrases shouted.

I've talked to people who get randomly upset when people talk in caps. It's like they're saying that typing in caps is genuinely akin to yelling, the words aren't just a symbol or a writing method used for various reasons (like yelling). They're accusing you of genuinely giving them a scare or provoking them, which is very strange. If someone is pretending that typing in caps gives them the same little jolt that they get when someone walks up and starts shouting in their face, they're either lying for some weird reason or there's something wrong with them.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

It is rude to point out another person's grammar or writing mistakes unless you are that person's instructor in a classroom setting or that person's mother.
I have to call BS on this. If it's minor errors, like using the wrong "there," yes, it's dickish to always point that out. But if someone doesn't use punctuation, or is constantly writing "u" instead of "you," or if the grammar is generally so bad it's hard to understand, I think you should let the person know, as Ted should've been told about his all caps habit, which is, frankly, a bad professional habit.

[Maximilianus]

There was a time when someone, whose name I can't remember, discovered capital letters to be more difficult to read for the human eye when they are used to write, say, a full paragraph. This is apparently because all capital letters are at the same level when put together, there being no rise or fall along a word, and it seems the eyes get easily tired when they don't climb and fall while reading. That was possibly the moment when lawyers and such discovered the convenience in writing contracts and warranties, in their whole or partially, in full capitals, so that the reader's eye would easily get tired. Hence, the reading of key clauses would be omitted because of eye tiredness, resulting in the signees signing something that could unwittingly lead them to the worst mistake of their lives. Whether this is true or not, I have seen that many people dislike whole paragraphs written in capitals, claiming that they represent a reading difficulty. In my case, being a person with eye conflicts, I have also experienced some reading difficulty with such writing style, so I would rather have full paragraphs written standardly. That is, first letters uppercase and the rest in lowercase.

[Lokasenna]

Well, I run my university's Old Norse Reading Group - which I organise mostly through emails. And I can tell you that getting responses from people is like getting blood out of a stone - I have to send reminder after reminder. I have found through long experience that if the email contains the phrase 'PLEASE EMAIL ME ASAP', I'm much more likely to get a response than if I simply write it in lower case.

Although some of my colleagues jokingly refer to them as my 'threatening capitals', the eyes are drawn to them - and people are much more likely to hit the reply button as a result.

[MystyrMystyry]

Capitals makes it feel disposable - like what you're saying is a flyer or a memo, but at certain times of the day I wish the words were big and others tiny

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Well, I run my university's Old Norse Reading Group - which I organise mostly through emails. And I can tell you that getting responses from people is like getting blood out of a stone - I have to send reminder after reminder. I have found through long experience that if the email contains the phrase 'PLEASE EMAIL ME ASAP', I'm much more likely to get a response than if I simply write it in lower case.

Although some of my colleagues jokingly refer to them as my 'threatening capitals', the eyes are drawn to them - and people are much more likely to hit the reply button as a result.
Well, this is definitely another advantage of not using all caps. If Ted wants to really emphasize something, how's he going to do it?

[Whifflingpin]

"Well, I run my university's Old Norse Reading Group -"
Can you send e-mails in lower case runes?

[Shalot]

Well, this is definitely another advantage of not using all caps. If Ted wants to really emphasize something, how's he going to do it?


THROUGH THE SOPHISTICAED USE OF AN EXCESSIVE NUMBER OF EXCLAMATION POINTS AND QUESTION MARKS PERHAPS???!!!!?????? MAYBE WITH RED BOLDED UNDERLINED CHARACTERS???!!!!!!!!??????!!!! BIGGER FONT SIZE???!!!!??????


Ted doesn't care about emphasis. His philosophy is "do your job and deal with it." Of course, he doesn't like it when people address him in a certain tone of voice but he hasn't connected the dots between tone of voice and the tone of written communication and how that is represented through formatting and punctuation. He just doesn't see it. Or he doesn't want to. I'm not sure which. He is this old guy in an office "production" environment and I'm right there with him. There are too few people in there to cover the volume we have. It's accounting. To me, accounting duties should not be performed in a production environment, and especially not in a "lean" operation like the one we're working in. But I'm not in charge. So one day Ted hears about volume - is he doing enough of the workload, is he carrying his weight. Another day, Ted hears about quality control and number of errors. Then on another day, Ted hears about time management. And all through this, the software Ted uses does not work.

Like I said, I used to get on my soapbox about all caps but the work world has just about kicked my butt and I've almost gone over to the dark side. Almost. I sill can't bring myself to keep the caps lock on which I've switched over from the piece of steaming turd software we use to MS Outlook. I just can't be that person who types in all caps. When I read something in all caps, I sometimes hear the way that person's voice sounds in my mind and he or she will always sound like a dullard. But then I think of Ted, and maybe that person is working in a similar situation. At some point, you just can't muster anymore enthusiasm you know?

[Varenne Rodin]

I have this theory that Ted is a jackass. I think he knows that the all caps will annoy some people, and he's just like, "SCREW THAT CUZ I KEN TYPE IN CAPZ IS I FELT LIEK IT!!!! IN AMERCA WE KEN DO FREE CONTREE SO SHUT U FACE IN!!!!17J!!11J1! I'M IS BIZNESS MAN!! WWOOO!!!2"

if he didn't want to use the shift key, he could have just as easily left the caps off and typed down here in the lower case. a choice was made. a bold, manly, marlboro choice. ;)

[MystyrMystyry]

Perhaps there should be a program add-on that recognises succession of capitals and converts them - or a font with no capitals for easy conversion, which would be the literary equivalent of putting your fingers in your ears to decrease the volume

[Varenne Rodin]

Perhaps there should be a program add-on that recognises succession of capitals and converts them - or a font with no capitals for easy conversion, which would be the literary equivalent of putting your fingers in your ears to decrease the volume

Haha. I like it, although it could lead to increased undeserved esteem for some people. Then again, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. Esteeming people is nice, right?

[Themis]

And then I started to wonder if the use of all caps to indicate shouting really did begin with the widespread use of the internet. It didn't. People used capital letters to add meaning to their written words before the widespread use of internet and email. In works of fiction, for example, authors used capital letters when their character was shouting in the dialogue. I have a book here on my desk that was published in 1982 and there are phrases written in all capital letters to indicate excitement or shouting.

People nowadays do mostly use caps for shouting. But I think it's still silly to get offended if someone writes in caps. If someone talks to me loudly I normally wouldn't dream of correcting them or being offended by it. (Normally, because if a family member or friend does that, they're usually full of mischief.)
Also, architects usually use block letters here if they're writing something down. I could imagine that they'd also use caps without meaning to "shout".