taking sides: all lowercase vs proper punctuation

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being fastidiously niggly i have actually deliberated quite long and hard abt which is more expressive/effectual/obliging

operating under the naive assumption that it somehow lent credence to my arguments, i used to be all about formal punctuation and presentation but when i read my stuff back afterwards, it also looks so stodgy

now i cant deny that theres something more liberating and oddly endearing abt lowercase for me. it fits my brane nicer -> i feel better represented

i'm thinking for purposes spec. related to ilx of course, not, say, work emails etc

― mark p (Mark P), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:15 (twenty-three years ago)

the politics of typecase... GO

― mark p (Mark P), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:15 (twenty-three years ago)

ALS0 THERE'S THIS YOU FASSY LOT

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:25 (twenty-three years ago)

I like to do things by the book.

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:28 (twenty-three years ago)

proper is best if you are really trying to be articulate. capitalizing even the first letter of sentences is a big help in terms of readability. but of course i have taken to non-shift style cuz its easier. partly because of IM, i can't keep up if i'm shifting.

― ron (ron), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:42 (twenty-three years ago)

apparently i would be world famous and make tons of money if i would only use proper capitalization...

― Jess Harvell (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:50 (twenty-three years ago)

ALL SHOULD BE TYPED IN BIG-ASS CASE I JUST DONT DO IT COS THE I HATE THE CASP LOCK BUTTON AND SHIFTING CHANGES ALL THE PUNCTUATUION - BECOMES _ ´ BECOMES ` ' BECOMES " . BECOMES > , BECOMES < ~ BECOMES ^

― Chupa-Cabras (vicc13), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:51 (twenty-three years ago)

mAybe, wE sHould bE a lIttle mOre cReative

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 18 August 2002 18:55 (twenty-three years ago)

I am tempted by all lowercase (though I do agree that proper punctuation and use of case improves readability, unless you're a much better writer than me, which Mark S, for instance, plainly is) mostly when I am eating an ice lolly or something, and then it is easier to use one finger typing - as opposed to utilising the left index finger as well, for the shift key. Hmm, I fancy an ice lolly now...

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 18 August 2002 19:15 (twenty-three years ago)

I tend to lower. except for Is and Gods [not godses] and Jesuses even though I'm not religious! I don't know why, but. I mean, I don't know why I do it. but I like to use UPPER just now and then but usually throughout ENTIRE words rather than at the beginning. it has nothing to do with punctuation. but it is used to punctuate. : (

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 18 August 2002 20:24 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm/I'm sticking with the Serious/frivilous divide when choosing ilx punctuation.

― m/Mitch l/Lastnamewithheld, Sunday, 18 August 2002 20:44 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm fairly set in using all lower case at this stage,although i can't remember when i abandoned capital letters or why...i tend to use proper punctuation though,and am a stickler for attempting to spell properly...(i don't object to mistakes,but text message abreviations,etc,usually wreck my head...)

― robin (robin), Sunday, 18 August 2002 20:51 (twenty-three years ago)

i still cant in my mind that in english you alwasy have to write I with an upper i, its just so ridiculous like: I am with supa kewl upper case but you are all just shitty lower cases. I always lose points on english tests because of this

― Chupa-Cabras (vicc13), Sunday, 18 August 2002 20:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh dear - Robin, while protesting against misspellings and abbreviations, has abbreviated 'abbreviations' as 'abreviations'!

(Sorry - I wouldn't normally jump on typos, but that was irresistible.)

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 18 August 2002 20:58 (twenty-three years ago)

TOO MUCH PRESSURE. I RESIGN.

― Maria, Sunday, 18 August 2002 21:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I love grammar and grammar loves me. Some would say it is an abusive relationship, though.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 18 August 2002 22:12 (twenty-three years ago)

i knew i would regret not checking for spelling mistakes,although i don't think i would have picked up on that anyway...

― robin (robin), Monday, 19 August 2002 00:31 (twenty-three years ago)

spelling is not a problem for me. however a constant use of lowercase certainly is. i seem to live my life in lowercase. i have to use the 'change case' option in Word so all my documents at work aren't in lowercase.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 19 August 2002 00:52 (twenty-three years ago)

lower case all the way. the shift key is a tool of the patriarchy.

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 19 August 2002 01:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Using standart pronciation is so mainstream it's the new subversive. Using lower case lost its anti-establishment edge around '95.

― Mary (Mary), Monday, 19 August 2002 02:37 (twenty-three years ago)

you just gotta go with what feels Right. message board postings are the new ironic T-shirts

― boxcubed (boxcubed), Monday, 19 August 2002 05:11 (twenty-three years ago)

lower case all the way. it just looks nice, and is easy

― gareth (gareth), Monday, 19 August 2002 06:30 (twenty-three years ago)

I tend to be very pedantic about capitalization and punctuation, mostly as an aid to the reader, to import something of my tone of voice. It's just a shame that my spelling's such a disaster.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Monday, 19 August 2002 09:09 (twenty-three years ago)

3y3 pr3f3r t|-|33 t|-|1rd \/\/4`/

― DG (D_To_The_G), Monday, 19 August 2002 09:11 (twenty-three years ago)

I think it would be harder for me not to use the shift key. Such is life.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 19 August 2002 09:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I am ANAL so find that I can cope with EITHER using all lower case OR using neologisms, kerazy spellings ect ect... Otherwise my attempt to impose ORDER on the universe would crumble.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 19 August 2002 11:23 (twenty-three years ago)

the shift key is a tool of the patriarchy

then e.e. cummings was the kathleen hanna of his day?

― petra jane, Monday, 19 August 2002 12:55 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm a lower case person (which is a habit carried over from working on unix systems). but i'm fussy about grammar and spelling.

― angela, Monday, 19 August 2002 13:09 (twenty-three years ago)

then e.e. cummings was the kathleen hanna of his day?

Shoulda heard him talking about turning off the radio and meeting people out in the street.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 August 2002 15:16 (twenty-three years ago)

ned we're going to have to start handing out demerits for those

― Josh (Josh), Monday, 19 August 2002 16:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Don't give me that, you punk. You know you would love it if James Joyce was MCing.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 August 2002 16:23 (twenty-three years ago)

TWO

― Josh (Josh), Monday, 19 August 2002 16:26 (twenty-three years ago)

YOU WOULD LOVE IT. Say it, SAY IT.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 August 2002 16:36 (twenty-three years ago)

my dream is that you learn to tally the demerits yourself so I don't have to spend so much time doing it.

― Josh (Josh), Monday, 19 August 2002 17:55 (twenty-three years ago)

And you think I am not aware of them already? HOW LITTLE YOU KNOW ME. *cries*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 19 August 2002 18:54 (twenty-three years ago)

One must use correct spelling and grammer at all times!

Bastardizations like "kewl", etc. are fine in the proper context
-- and that context is aol chatrooms in 1995.

― Miss Laura, Tuesday, 20 August 2002 08:54 (twenty-three years ago)

a very subtle joke that one

― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 20 August 2002 08:56 (twenty-three years ago)

What - the grammar/grammer thing or the aol dig?

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 20 August 2002 09:00 (twenty-three years ago)

N -- yup. but as a bonus she used "one". Ask her out! DO IT!

― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 20 August 2002 09:08 (twenty-three years ago)

"I don't use all caps because I hate the cap locks key." I'm going to claim to hate the enter key from now on. That's why I don't paragraph. No other reason. So very cool.

― maryann, Tuesday, 20 August 2002 09:54 (twenty-three years ago)

I have used it -- such as last week when I hurt my wrist, it was too much strain to try to shift when I was writing.

But I always associate it with this really horrid poet at my university who would post these excruiatingly long pretentious poems all in lower case, so it usually strikes me as annoying and contrived.

― Nicole (Nicole), Tuesday, 20 August 2002 11:05 (twenty-three years ago)

seven months pass...

i'm thinking of switching back to uppercase. i think the lowercase move was an attempt to align myself with the jess-ethan hegemony (and maybe absorb a little of sinkah's casual genius). i'm thinking it was possibly a (failed, i think) attempt to goad myself into posting more (and more enthusiatically: my shift-lessness [do you see?][also, DO YOU SEE?] marks the split between when i thought i was a valuable addition to the boards and when i mostly shut up and let the smarter people do the talking)(nb if you were thinking of saying it then this is not the place to say 'oh mitch but we do like you etc" - despite the above i'm not in a self-pitying mood now and i like listening to smart people talk). because i do so much typing for university essays etc i'm wondering if it's harder for me to use caps or to stop myself from using them. so we'll see.

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Thursday, 3 April 2003 19:48 (twenty-two years ago)

fuck a capital letter

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 3 April 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

haha yes

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Thursday, 3 April 2003 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

If I'm writing an email, I can't seem to forget the advice someone gave me that writing in caps looks like you're shouting. As I never want to "blow out" the eardrums of the person I'm writing to, I tend to employ the English major's "best friend" and try to just write what I want as a normal sentence.

IMHO, tis too difficult for me to read emails written in all lowercase: my eyes won't know where the new sentence begins.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 3 April 2003 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I look down on you two. (nice cleavage)

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 3 April 2003 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

note: my ilx all lowercase jihad has not crept into my "real world" writing, so it's all good

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 3 April 2003 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Writing with all-lowercase, bad grammar, spelling, etc. just makes you look like every other CEO in America.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

i remember posting about this a few months ago, getting very self-righteous about how IT'S ACTUALLY NOT THAT DIFFICULT TO FIND THE CAPS LOCK KEY and how ppl who exclusively typed in lowercase and eschewed punctuation were just affecting a pose of being too preoccupied living the busy life of a "genius" to give a shit

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

don't you mean shift key?

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

NO SHE DOESN'T

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

just affecting a pose of being too preoccupied living the busy life of a "genius" to give a shit

That's why CEO's do it.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

no jess i don't i mean caps lock key

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

so you actually hit the caps lock key every time you want to make an uppercase letter? didn't you take keyboarding in 7th grade?

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:05 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, and yes

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:06 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm so lowercase-curious scene but the low 'i' is a transgression I just can't commit.

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm also so idiot self badly editing.

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

crikey (to JBR)

― RickyT (RickyT), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

the lower-case "i" is the last step before total moral ambivalence

― jess (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:08 (twenty-two years ago)

haha I vs i :: " vs '

― g--ff c-nn-n (gcannon), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

just do what's best for I and i, mon

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 3 April 2003 20:10 (twenty-two years ago)

WRITING IN CAPS LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE SHOUTING AND TRYING TO SOUND IMPORTANT LIKE YOU'RE MAKING A PAPAL PROCLAMATION OR SOMETHING AND THAT CAN REALLY CAUSE A REACTION IN YOUR READERS

whereas writing in all lower case can often weaken the force of your words to the stage where you sound like you're just whinging

These statements are especially true when you're being negative or criticising something. Consider this sentence in all lower case or all caps (just as an example, it is not a view I necessarily share:

"John Howard is nothing but George Bush's lackey getting off on strutting the world stage and conning himself he's important like his hero Menzies did."

― Fred Nerk, Thursday, 3 April 2003 21:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Online I use punctuation but often forego capitialzation b/c I'm just lazy. (now i'm self-conscious)

― That Girl (thatgirl), Friday, 4 April 2003 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I reserve all-caps for when I'm posting ex cathedra.

― Tep (ktepi), Friday, 4 April 2003 01:26 (twenty-two years ago)

For a while there, especially in my early days online, I championed lowercase as this great new spontaneous, casual form of communication. But then I realized I actually liked proper punctuation. Sometimes I think it just seems so elegant.

― jaymc., Friday, 4 April 2003 03:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I just go with the flow, whatever happens happens, ride the snake brutha, ride the snake

― James Blount (James Blount), Friday, 4 April 2003 03:28 (twenty-two years ago)

i cant be bothered with capitals anymore. im not a busy genius, im just busy and not a very good typist.

― donna (donna), Friday, 4 April 2003 05:48 (twenty-two years ago)

i lost capitals when i started using interweb chat and had to answer questions like a/s/l? really fast! also capitals make things you say more official and i dread people actually taking me seriously.

― minna (minna), Friday, 4 April 2003 07:28 (twenty-two years ago)

ride the snake brutha, ride the snake

to the lake?

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 4 April 2003 09:29 (twenty-two years ago)

with Greg Lake?

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 4 April 2003 09:29 (twenty-two years ago)

All lower case is far more difficult to read.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Friday, 4 April 2003 09:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Matt is right, and in this font the full stops are really tiny, which is another reason why a capital to start a sentence is useful.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 4 April 2003 16:09 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry, gramps!

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 4 April 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

all lowercase
reeks
of juvenile
poetry.

― Nick A. (Nick A.), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

fuck you too

― eecummings (Oops), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Huh huh...your name is cummings.

― Nick A. (Nick A.), Friday, 4 April 2003 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

three weeks pass...

After complaining for aeons about all lower case, I've become hypocritical and have been using it all the time on aim. It's just quicker and everyone else seems to be doing it. That's not an adequate excuse, though.

― Nicole (Nicole), Monday, 28 April 2003 13:41 (twenty-two years ago)

TSK, Nicole. We must maintain standards.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 28 April 2003 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

it is quicker. so very bahaus too.

― dyson (dyson), Monday, 28 April 2003 22:52 (twenty-two years ago)

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