Clarifying the ALL CAPS issue in another thread

[kitchenelf]

It is considered screaming in the cyber world. It is also much harder to read in all caps. If someone has trouble viewing their screen there is a simple solution.

Click on View in your upper toolbar
Highlight Text Size
From here you have several options - Increase, Decrease, Normal

This may have to be done on the site everytime you visit - and some sites can't make their font larger.

You can also change your settings at your desktop to change ALL font on your computer but you can also mess it up if you don't know what you are doing.

[Andy M.]

Thanks for the clarification, kitchenelf.

I believe writing (typing) on the internet should follow the same punctuation and grammar rules that prevail elsewhere.

[VeraBlue]

With the invention of internet, and now with text messaging, it's become apparent the art of the written word is lost, possibly forever.

I remember taking composition classes in the 60s and 70s. We learned spelling, grammar, punctuation, tense, etc. Emphasis was placed on being able to express yourself clearly, yet with style and grace. Letter writing was taught. I wonder how many people even know how to properly set a letter to a page. The terms greeting, closing and salutation have lost their meaning.

It's a shame, really, when you think of it. I believe my generation was the last generation to learn these simple skills. What's sadder, still, is that many people don't seem concerned, overmuch. As a society, we have lost the ability to communicate correctly, with a pen. I am loathe to suggest it, but I fear we may also be losing the ability to communicate face to face. What a grim picture to conjur when one considers the society of the future, sitting in front of screens of various sizes typing messages in computer jargon instead of getting out for a chat.

I understand the 'all caps' rule that it is the equivalent of screaming. My own personal feelings on this is that given the unending parade of typographical errors, grammatically incorrect sentences, or someone who simply types their words capitalized, I'd opt for the capital letters.

I long for the days when gentlewomen went calling in the afternoon, leaving dainty cards at the homes where they could not be received at the time. I am quite convinced I was born a hundred years too late.

[wasabi]

[kitchenelf]

LMBO

[thumpershere2]

LMBO?? Are you screaming now? OK I will tell my aunt about changing all letters on her site I'm sure with alot of help she will be able to understand how to do it. Thanks for all the info on not using caps and how to change the size of letters without screaming.

[kitchenelf]

Originally Posted by thumpershere2

LMBO?? Are you screaming now?

No, just laughling loudly!

[suzyQ3]

Okay, now don't everybody attack me at once: I've come to dislike the all-italicized posts almost as much as the screaming caps ones. But please, please if you insist on italicizing, don't also use a pale color. The combination makes the words so difficult to read.

Keep it simple and save the the frills for the occasional emphasis. Just MHO, of course.

P.S. I know this is a bit of a thread hijacker, and I apologize for that. It's been something I've wanted to express but didn't think it warranted its own thread and certainly not a reply to a specific post.

[bullseye]

Originally Posted by suzyQ3

Okay, now don't everybody attack me at once: I've come to dislike the all-italicized posts almost as much as the screaming caps ones. But please, please if you insist on italicizing, don't also use a pale color. The combination makes the words so difficult to read.

Keep it simple and save the the frills for the occasional emphasis. Just MHO, of course.

P.S. I know this is a bit of a thread hijacker, and I apologize for that. It's been something I've wanted to express but didn't think it warranted its own thread and certainly not a reply to a specific post.

Here, here!

[kitchenelf]

Yes, the light-colored font is sometimes hard to read - but we're more or less talkinng about netiquette. It's not a thread hijacker and can still be an issue.

But all caps is becomeing the #1 golden rule when you're just on a bulletin board or chat board. I just very rarely seems to bother anyone unless it becomes a habit that everything is always in all caps. THEN people will complain.

[Dove]

I just wish the posts were in bold print..lol I am due for eye surgery again but not when things here take all my time. I keep bumping my nose on my monitor.DoveExplanation:Several years ago I developed a hole in the Macula..now it is doing it in my other eye.

[wasabi]

It would be nice if everyone posted in bold print. I'm almost legally blind myself.

[YT2095]

I find the pale colors (esp Yellow) almost impossible to read, but if it IS something important, you can Cut/Paste the text somewhere else and read it that way, or sometime the act of Highlighting it as if you were going to cut it will sometimes resolve it also. of course it`s much nicer if you don`t have to :)

[BabyG]

Originally Posted by VeraBlue

With the invention of internet, and now with text messaging, it's become apparent the art of the written word is lost, possibly forever.

I remember taking composition classes in the 60s and 70s. We learned spelling, grammar, punctuation, tense, etc. Emphasis was placed on being able to express yourself clearly, yet with style and grace. Letter writing was taught. I wonder how many people even know how to properly set a letter to a page. The terms greeting, closing and salutation have lost their meaning.

It's a shame, really, when you think of it. I believe my generation was the last generation to learn these simple skills. What's sadder, still, is that many people don't seem concerned, overmuch. As a society, we have lost the ability to communicate correctly, with a pen. I am loathe to suggest it, but I fear we may also be losing the ability to communicate face to face. What a grim picture to conjur when one considers the society of the future, sitting in front of screens of various sizes typing messages in computer jargon instead of getting out for a chat.

I understand the 'all caps' rule that it is the equivalent of screaming. My own personal feelings on this is that given the unending parade of typographical errors, grammatically incorrect sentences, or someone who simply types their words capitalized, I'd opt for the capital letters.

I long for the days when gentlewomen went calling in the afternoon, leaving dainty cards at the homes where they could not be received at the time. I am quite convinced I was born a hundred years too late.

I completely agree with you. If in real life first impressions are solely or at least mostly based off physical appearance then in the social world of the internet, first impressions are based off not the content of a persons text but the grammar. I have to admit, i find it very hard to respect a view that someone is expressing if it written with bad grammar or is difficult to read.

I can't completely agree with you, however, when you say your generation is the last to learn these simple skills. I have just graduated from high school and English is a compulsory subject for everyone. Here we learn not just grammar and spelling but the logic and use of language to convey ideas and persuade and audience also known as rhetoric. But to be honest i wish we were learning solely grammar . In fact i think it is ridiculous how we're made to learn about the strangest things in English, such as Coleridge's poetry as a text for 'Imaginative journeys". I don't know if anyone here is a fan of it, but it seems like opium induced garble to me. We also study Aldous Huxley's novel "Brave New World" i actually love that book tho. It was written in 1931 and is a satire portraying the fears of totalitarian regimes and the acceleration of technology. He wrote about test tube babies and genetic engineering, which was complete "science fiction" back then!

Oops, I've really gone off topic! I have my final exam on Friday and I've just been studying for 5 hours, so i forgot this was a cooking forum.

[Lizannd]

YT2095, I never thought of cut and paste. Thanks.

[buckytom]

ooh, this could get interesting. a debate on proper writing and grammar.

ok, choose up. i'll take 'bug and vb.

j/k

i've wondered if anyone finds it annoying that i don't capitalize properly?
on another cooking site, i was scolded by an old timer for not taking the time, thereby showing disrespect to the other members by not capitalizing. i couldn't argue much as i was a newbie, and i also repected the old guy's opinions on most things.
i started communicating with computers before the web was public, during the infancy of bbs's, and everyone back then that i knew always used all lower case, except of course when you intended to ephasize a word, like yelling.

[ronjohn55]

Ack!!

Bad flashbacks to school!! Making me remember having to diagram sentences!!!

BLECH!!!!!

John

[GB]

I am sure we all have habits that annoy people to one degree or another when chatting here. That is just bound to happen when you get a group of people together. We once had a member "who" could not "type" a "message" without putting "quotes" around 80% or "the words in his post" for absolutely "no reason". That drove me batty. On the flip side though, I know I probably have typing habits that drive other people equally as nuts.

[bullseye]

Originally Posted by buckytom

i've wondered if anyone finds it annoying that i don't capitalize properly?

[ . . .]

i started communicating with computers before the web was public, during the infancy of bbs's, and everyone back then that i knew always used all lower case, except of course when you intended to ephasize a word, like yelling.

And here I just thought you were an ardent fan of e. e. cummings!

I, too, started my online life in the dark ages of private BBSs. I used to access the internet--before there was such a thing as a "web"--using a 300 baud modem and a access point at the local college. Fun times, but gopher is a far cry from Google!

[thumpershere2]

If it's perfect grammer and spelling that is required here then I'm going to be in trouble. I am also a poor typer and I make alot of mistakes. Sorry for all the mistakes and I will still just read the posts.