Status
Not open for further replies.

cvrle77

Active Member
5,787
2009
4,354
10
It seems, when internet came into being, first users made unwritten rule that WRITING SOMETHING IN CAPITAL LETTERS = shouting

Now, lets see in dictionary, what shouting means:


shouting present participle of shout (Verb)
Verb
(of a person) Utter a loud call or cry, typically as an expression of a strong emotion.
Say something very loudly; call out: "he leaned out of his window and shouted abuse at them".

Now, since we all are fully aware, there's no sound being produced while we read text on our screen, where do we find logic to equalize something like writing in CAPITAL LETTERS ALONE with shouting?

some examples that can equal to this perception

This!!!
This
This
This! [ffuu]
This
This

Don't you think you are just being influenced by this myth, and it has no connection with logic? If it was not meant to write in caps, don't you think that makers of keyboards would exclude CAPS LOCK key?

Are caps are just caps, and why giving it any other virtual 'invented' meaning?
If you don't talk, can you shout?
 
10 comments
Personally, it's just a matter of preference. I'd much rather read content written with good grammar and spelling than, for example "HI HOW R U?". It's one of my pet peeves. We have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs that can be used for many useful things. Writing acronyms in capitalised letters isn't one of them.
 
They made CAPS LOCK because the keyboard would be failing if it could not capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence. Famous people, places, and things have capital letters for their first letter as well. :|
 
That's a lot of thought given to a button. :| People know you can't shout with text (obviously), it's just used to capture your attention or stress on something. GOT IT? (example)

Just my opinion and how I've always processed a word/phrase in caps.
 
They made CAPS LOCK because the keyboard would be failing if it could not capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence. Famous people, places, and things have capital letters for their first letter as well. :|


I thought they made SHIFT key for that purpose (2 for that matter). Caps lock is there so you don't have to hold shift key if you are writing whole sentence in caps, or more than a sentence.

Grammatically speaking

This!!! is shout but

THIS isn't
 
I think I agree that ALL CAPS IS SHOUTING because I heard it when I first started online and it just stuck. It does seem sort of rude, but sometimes I use caps for effect...like:
"Then I went ALL the way home to get my bag" Just for emphasis that I had to go so far
 
SO YOU THINK, WHEN I PRESS CAPS LOCK ON ACCIDENT, AND LEAVE IT THAT WAY, AND SEND A MESSAGE THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY SHOUTING, IT'S STILL SHOUTING?

Was this rude in any imaginable way? ^^^^^

Btw, I am asking this, because of the caps rule we are having, so I am just curious.

Isn't actually the content of the sentence, that determines whether we are perceiving something as shouting, rather than mere capitalized letters?



WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??!!!

Where have you been??!!!



Both are considered shouting, it's just that one is with capitalized letters. So, it makes no sense saying that this isn't totally equal.
And it also makes no sense at all saying that shout in capitalized letters is more louder, when there's no sound being produced at all, or saying it's more rude, when message is exactly the same, and the meaning is exactly the same.

But here's the twist.
Why is one considered to be rude, and other isn't? Why is one banned, and other isn't?
Does that makes ANY sense to anyone?
 
Well once i bought theme from RT, i lose the data because of formation of one my drive.
i ask RT to send me theme he was so nice he send me theme via Rapidshare link, i try to download but never unable to because link was not working,. i reply to him, hey send me theme via ANY other host expect RS.

something you wanna point,../ highlight ,
like in exams we use CAPs for headings then start writing stuff etc... now in the free boards like wj itself there is no need of cap rules ppl talk different shits.. i mean whats the difference here, asshole or ASSHOLE..
one word [cap] in one sentence looks ok though but all words in CAP , sometime to me it makes me difficult to read.. thats it, though that moment i really wanna kill other guy well thats the different story..



& yeah about the above story he did not reply me since then..
 
Last edited:
Whether or not it's actual shouting, it's the understood equivalent based on rules that we (the internet community) made for ourselves. When new people join the site, they know not to use caps even if they didn't read the rules - just because its generally unacceptable. There are similar rules in real life too…like obscene hand gestures which really mean nothing, but because we understand the intention, they end up meaning a lot.
 
what are you on, cv? lol

It is a form of emphasis, capital letters were used to emphasise words long before computers existed. They generally mean to show that a word is to be shouted, or it is simply important and emphasised. Same reason we use bold, italics, underlining, etc. Absolutely nothing to do with the internet or computing, more likely to have originated from the days of typewriters.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top