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Capitalization rules vs all lowercase texting
- Thread starter whatsinaname
- Start date
If I see all lowercase, I assume the person is kidding around, and it's entirely the fault of of Fat4All and blame space.
I do think think all lowercase is superior to the /s tag, but I know it won't catch on.
I do think think all lowercase is superior to the /s tag, but I know it won't catch on.
I find all lowercase with no punctuation to be aesthetically unpleasant. It also feels more lazy than laid-back. If every message someone sends is like that I'm gonna assume they're just bothering me because they're bored.
If I'm at my PC, it's usually lower case, especially in a quick back and forth. On my phone I'll very rarely take the time to capitalize a name or acronym that doesn't show up in predictive text. I also don't use autocorrect.
I'm 43 so not sure it's an age / generational thing. Think it's more of a "phones have been typing for us for 10+ years and we're lazy" thing.
And for what it's worth, I was a professional writer and editor for 10 or so years, so I do appreciate grammar and punctuation, but texting is so informal that I just don't give a fuck any more as long as the message gets across.
I find it odd that people inflect tone through simple texts. Unless it's a brush off like "k" after longer text, I just take the words at face value.
I'm 43 so not sure it's an age / generational thing. Think it's more of a "phones have been typing for us for 10+ years and we're lazy" thing.
And for what it's worth, I was a professional writer and editor for 10 or so years, so I do appreciate grammar and punctuation, but texting is so informal that I just don't give a fuck any more as long as the message gets across.
I find it odd that people inflect tone through simple texts. Unless it's a brush off like "k" after longer text, I just take the words at face value.
I usually try to type things out professional-style. It's always good practice, if nothing else. But if I'm being jokey/facetious, I'll drop punctuation and caps.
For context, I'm not young (44) and I have an English degree. I care about language.
In emails I will always use proper capitalization and punctuation, partly because they feel like a more formal mode of communication and because there is usually no one on the other end actively engaged in the conversation and waiting for a reply. In texts I will generally go with whatever the phone does. I'm not as concerned with punctuation, but I will definitely make conscious decisions about whether or not to include the final period or question mark in a text. Leaving them off has a much more casual feel than including them. It's less a visual aesthetic choice than an attempt to substitute for the inflection and tone that you would have with oral communication. Questions in particular can be hard to gauge, but leaving off the question mark indicates a casual question rather than an interrogation. I also feel like a short answer to a question can come off snippy if there's a period at the end.
Work IMs are almost always all lowercase, depending on the audience and whether I know them well. Lowercase is faster for me and IMs are even more ephemeral than texts, at least in my mind, so I don't worry about it.
Edit: That video that was posted is very good.
In emails I will always use proper capitalization and punctuation, partly because they feel like a more formal mode of communication and because there is usually no one on the other end actively engaged in the conversation and waiting for a reply. In texts I will generally go with whatever the phone does. I'm not as concerned with punctuation, but I will definitely make conscious decisions about whether or not to include the final period or question mark in a text. Leaving them off has a much more casual feel than including them. It's less a visual aesthetic choice than an attempt to substitute for the inflection and tone that you would have with oral communication. Questions in particular can be hard to gauge, but leaving off the question mark indicates a casual question rather than an interrogation. I also feel like a short answer to a question can come off snippy if there's a period at the end.
Work IMs are almost always all lowercase, depending on the audience and whether I know them well. Lowercase is faster for me and IMs are even more ephemeral than texts, at least in my mind, so I don't worry about it.
Edit: That video that was posted is very good.
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I use proper capitalization, no shorthand (u instead of you), never use any emojis, and typically end messages with the appropriate punctuation. It's honestly kind of funny that people are apparently bothered by it, especially some of the examples here, such as "ok" versus "ok." or typing out the word "okay."
Don't ever ring the doorbell, OP. Ever.
You text that you have arrived. If they don't see your message you scream really loud outside their door, but you never ring the bell.
I write my messages with proper casing and punctuation, in fact most of my immediate family does. At least for texts I do drop the final piece of punctuation; meaning if it's two sentences in a text the first will have a period, the second will not (unless the sentence is meant to be interpreted with something other than a period).
That being said lowercased texts don't bother me, but lordy if you send me a work email that's written like you're a texting teenager I will mentally drop you down to fresh intern level competence, even if you're an exec.
That being said lowercased texts don't bother me, but lordy if you send me a work email that's written like you're a texting teenager I will mentally drop you down to fresh intern level competence, even if you're an exec.
Nah, it's still pretty crazy because as that video states 'context matters'; I'm very rarely a serious person and they knew that. Anyway, the punctuation was a result of developing the habit to double press the space bar at the end of a sentence, nothing too exciting.
I did get told I was coming off cold when I rarely used emojis in text and now I use them too liberally 😂
I think it only annoys me when people write/text with TOO MUCH capitalization or punctuation. Like...This... or this!!!!!!
I try to write full sentences and use proper capitalization. Like, right now I'm doing it consciously, but I agree that it gives off a "formal" vibe. Especially when texting friends/family, writing Tweets, forum posts, and even sending "professional looking/sounding" emails.
I don't try to start sentences with a lowercase letter, because that would actually take more effort on a smartphone with autocorrect, but I do think using less punctuation and all lowercase gives off a really cool and casual and laid back vibe. Especially on Twitter, which has popularized it. It's almost more natural to "like" Tweets that are all lowercase and relaxed than Tweets that are very "serious" in tone because they use proper capitalization rules.
Casual:
i was at the mall today and this guy jumped into the fountain with his clothes on for a tiktok can we pls not make this a thing lmao
Formal:
Today, at the mall, I saw a guy jump into the fountain with his clothes on for a TikTok. Can we please not make this a thing?
I try to write full sentences and use proper capitalization. Like, right now I'm doing it consciously, but I agree that it gives off a "formal" vibe. Especially when texting friends/family, writing Tweets, forum posts, and even sending "professional looking/sounding" emails.
I don't try to start sentences with a lowercase letter, because that would actually take more effort on a smartphone with autocorrect, but I do think using less punctuation and all lowercase gives off a really cool and casual and laid back vibe. Especially on Twitter, which has popularized it. It's almost more natural to "like" Tweets that are all lowercase and relaxed than Tweets that are very "serious" in tone because they use proper capitalization rules.
Casual:
i was at the mall today and this guy jumped into the fountain with his clothes on for a tiktok can we pls not make this a thing lmao
Formal:
Today, at the mall, I saw a guy jump into the fountain with his clothes on for a TikTok. Can we please not make this a thing?
Proper grammar when on a laptop or PC.
Nothing when on the phone because nothing typed by someone's thumbs has ever been important.
Nothing when on the phone because nothing typed by someone's thumbs has ever been important.
when i moved to ktown in la in 2003 everyone at the boba place typed like this:
hOw ArE yoU DOinG toDAy? I'm FIne tHanKs fOR aSKinG
hOw ArE yoU DOinG toDAy? I'm FIne tHanKs fOR aSKinG
Just found this thread and I'm laughing at those people calling typing in lowercase an "aesthetic".
If you can write in lowercase like James Joyce would have done, sure. But we are on a video game forum discussing the nth version of CoD and our newest bidet. Not much aesthetic to that.
If you can write in lowercase like James Joyce would have done, sure. But we are on a video game forum discussing the nth version of CoD and our newest bidet. Not much aesthetic to that.
On Era I use use capitalization and punctuation since it's pretty much the standard here. But for texts, twitch and discord I can't be bothered to use caps or punctuation. The lack of caps and punctuation is what I'm used to from decades of IRC and various other online chat. People that use caps and punctiuation in most online chat contexts come off as uptight or new to the medium.
It's formal versus casual. You should type in proper punctuation to anyone you expect to take you seriously, and in all lowercase to anyone who's seen your genitals.
Zero consistency is the way. Keep 'em on their toes, psychological warfare for days. if you're not trying to mentally destroy people you converse with what the fuck are you even doing
