typing with no capital letters?

[ViolaMum]

I had a meeting with an administrator while in college who asked me, "Do you have low self-seteem?"

"I don't think so, why do you ask?"

"You sign your name in all lowercase letters."



As a candystriper, I had been watching nurses initial a chart and noticed that one signed her initials as a single cursive word, without lifting the pen. It was fast, efficient and fit neatly into the tiny column. I experimented at home with my own and found that if I used all lowercase letters, I had nice, neat, compact initials, and a unique signature, by extension.

I asked my teens about the lying/not lying and they hadn't heard of it. They tend to use caps and punctuation when they text me, but not so much with their friends.

[2sunshines]

Originally Posted by marbles

I'm 36 and I don't use capital letters for casual things, using them (using proper sentences) is more formal. Depends on the setting, really. And yeah, punctuation is optional and can add meaning. I keep having to remind myself for instance that when my mom ends a text with "..." she isn't being passive aggressive.

Wait. My world is rocked. Ending a sentence with .... could be taken as passive aggressive??? I do that all the time. To me it just means my thought is unfinished. Like I'm still pondering but not sure how to express it. Sort of a "hmmmm" -- does that make sense? Or an invite for feedback. For me, it's sort of a punctuation subsitute for this emoticon

[RealLifeMama]

Originally Posted by 2sunshines

Wait. My world is rocked. Ending a sentence with .... could be taken as passive aggressive??? I do that all the time. To me it just means my thought is unfinished. Like I'm still pondering but not sure how to express it. Sort of a "hmmmm" -- does that make sense? Or an invite for feedback. For me, it's sort of a punctuation subsitute for this emoticon

That is kind of how I take it, also. (How you mean it.)

[deena]

My kids say “no cap” on occasion. I think it is starting to be less popular than a few years ago.

The lack of punctuation and capital letters thing is sad and concerning to me, especially as a grammar geek. They can say they are learning it in schools but I’m honestly not convinced (my kids go to an average inner city school).

[marbles]

Originally Posted by 2sunshines

Wait. My world is rocked. Ending a sentence with .... could be taken as passive aggressive??? I do that all the time. To me it just means my thought is unfinished. Like I'm still pondering but not sure how to express it. Sort of a "hmmmm" -- does that make sense? Or an invite for feedback. For me, it's sort of a punctuation subsitute for this emoticon

Well obviously it does mean it's an unfinished thought, but it's also more of a boomer thing to use them a lot to end sentences. For examples I will get things like "how neat..." "Don't make an extra stop..." "You can do that if you want to..."

---------- Post added at 08:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:16 AM ----------

Originally Posted by knitlove

Things like this is why I do my best to not message people. I am going to do my to tell my student to do not messages at all and just talk me in class. I don't want to deal with trying to go though the code of what they means when there aren't proper sentences with capitals and punctuation and apparently they will think I am mean and aggressive if I clearly ander back.


Things like this is why I do my absolutely best to not talk or communicate at all with most of the world, I will do it wrong and get in trouble. It is better it is better to not say anything ever.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

There are unwritten rules and codes for every language and dialect and subgroup, if you're communicating in a professional setting, the style will be professional. If you're texting casually, the style will be casual. There are always chances for miscommunication, but it's not like people will be angry if you use proper grammar. It just means your style is more formal. That's ok, it's just your style. If you use proper punctuation only sometimes, then the times you do use it will carry more weight.

[domesticzookeeper]

Originally Posted by 2sunshines

Wait. My world is rocked. Ending a sentence with .... could be taken as passive aggressive??? I do that all the time. To me it just means my thought is unfinished. Like I'm still pondering but not sure how to express it. Sort of a "hmmmm" -- does that make sense? Or an invite for feedback. For me, it's sort of a punctuation subsitute for this emoticon

I'm imagining someone trailing off at the end of a sentence, with no punctuation to indicate emphasis or emotion, and it just *sounds* passive aggressive. If someone did that in vocal conversation I would assume they were saying something more polite than their actual opinion. Same with "hmmmmm". Depends on context, but my brain translates it to vocal speech and it sounds more like a hint that they want to say more, but won't say it. I can't imagine someone saying "Hmmmm" IRL and me not immediately asking them to share what they're really thinking. So, basically what you're saying, but to me it sounds less like you want my feedback and more like you don't feel you can be straight with me.

JMO.

---------- Post added at 07:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:13 AM ----------

Originally Posted by marbles

There are unwritten rules and codes for every language and dialect and subgroup, if you're communicating in a professional setting, the style will be professional. If you're texting casually, the style will be casual. There are always chances for miscommunication, but it's not like people will be angry if you use proper grammar.

It's code-switching for the written word, and people pretty instinctively know how to do that, and also that some people don't want to be bothered.

[Quiteria]

I usually interpret the ... by personality.

For straight-forward thinkers who tend to trail off while legitimately pondering something, or who ramble on tangents a lot like I do, it's no more than a comfortable pause while thinking or transition between trains of thought. If it's someone nice saying "how neat..." or "don't make an extra stop...", I assume they mean that it's neater than they can find the words to elaborate right now, or they don't want to inconvenience me to make and extra stop but are leaving it up to me to make the final call (or they're doing the obligatory protest thing where they will appreciate it if we go to the trouble of stopping but don't quite want to be responsible for making us do so).

For people who are known to speak passive-aggressively, then it might imply that someone wants you to complete the sentence yourself with whatever rude thought or obvious caution or so forth.

I really, really hate trying to read between the lines, so I try to assign positive intent. I use enough ellipses myself that I usually don't hear them aggressively...but then again, mine tend to be mid-sentence transitions instead of endings. (I'm not sure that example is quite natural, but it would be a case where I was pausing to ponder the accuracy of "usually don't hear them that way" and then continuing when I came up with an exception.)

[knitlove]

Originally Posted by domesticzookeeper

It's code-switching for the written word, and people pretty instinctively know how to do that, and also that some people don't want to be bothered.

In my experience all the 'people instinctively know how to do it' means I don't! I will get it wrong, cause trouble or get in trouble.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by ViolaMum

I asked my teens about the lying/not lying and they hadn't heard of it. They tend to use caps and punctuation when they text me, but not so much with their friends.

Mine had no idea either.

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 AM ----------

Originally Posted by knitlove

In my experience all the 'people instinctively know how to do it' means I don't! I will get it wrong, cause trouble or get in trouble.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Same with me.

I think that "people instinctively know how to do it" is assuming everyone is typical. Some of this doesn't come naturally for those of us who are neurodivergent.

[kdm1984]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Mine had no idea either.

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 AM ----------



Same with me.

I think that "people instinctively know how to do it" is assuming everyone is typical. Some of this doesn't come naturally for those of us who are neurodivergent.

Diagnosed Aspie (back in 2014) here! It's only in the last year or two where I think I've finally caught on to the basics of most social contexts, lol. I do a lot better reading social cues now than I did even a few years ago, especially in-person.