Have You Ever Been YELLED At?
I imagine that, at some point in your life, someone yelled at you. It’s probably a rare person who has not had someone yell at them at some point in their life.
Maybe it was a parent. Maybe it was an upset lover or a friend. Maybe it was a wacky guy on the street trying to guilt you into giving him your bicycle.
Maybe you’ve had someone shout at you too. Shouting is basically the same as yelling; they are synonyms after all. You might yell to get someone’s attention; you might shout to get someone’s attention.
The connotation of the words may vary. Generally, both are rather neutral words. You might shout at someone because you’re mad at them. You might shout at someone because you’re trying to get their attention across a room. Shouting or yelling is more a matter of raising your voice, and not descriptive of the reason you are raising your voice. Still, some may view yelling as negative and shouting as more neutral, as in you yell when you’re upset and shout to get attention. Or vice versa.
It is the negative connotation of the word that I will be discussing here. The idea that yelling or shouting is negative, rude, angry, etc.
As I mentioned earlier, you’ve probably experienced shouting or yelling in a negative way when you were on the receiving end of someone’s temper tantrum. It’s generally not a pleasant experience. It can be downright bad.
In the online world, writing in ALL CAPS is considered shouting, or yelling. IT IS ONE WAY OF GETTING SOMEONE’S ATTENTION AND GETTING YOUR WORDS TO STAND OUT IN A CROWD. It’s hard not to notice.
Used occasionally, it’s no big deal. And, when used intentionally, you’re accomplishing your mission.
On the flip side, some people don’t realize this little social rule online. Some write in ALL CAPS as a matter of course. Maybe they don’t know how to turn off the CAPS LOCK on their computer. Maybe they think it’s normal. Who knows?
The problem with the excessive use of ALL CAPS is that it can be difficult to read. The letters blend together much more than with lower case letters. Of course, the Romans didn’t have lower case letters, nor did they have punctuation as we do, but that’s another story. Over the centuries, we’ve learned that lower case letter forms can be easier to read in sequence than ALL CAPS. We’ve come to use ALL CAPS to highlight information, not to convey all information.
Similarly, we continue to develop new typefaces to improve readability. Having a language and basic letter forms is just the beginning of communication. Continually refining letter forms and layout is a part of continually improving communication. Just like how the language itself changes, typography too changes, all in an effort to make things easier to read, to understand, to better convey the information we wish to pass along.
As such, we have reached that stage where the use of ALL CAPS is for a specific purpose and not general use. For example, when did you last read a magazine article or a novel that was set up in ALL CAPS?
We have reached that point where ALL CAPS in a textual form is considered SHOUTING or YELLING.
However, that usage can still be considered neutral. Are they SHOUTING at us out of anger, or are they SHOUTING to get our attention? In and of itself, the use of ALL CAPS is neutral. It is the content that will determine how it is being used. The use of ALL CAPS may have gotten our attention, but we still have to read it to determine in what manner it is being used. Is it being used to express anger at you as in, YOU STUPID IDIOT, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT TO ME! Or, is it just being used to grab your attention, as in, BUY TODAY FOR HUGE SAVINGS! Or, is it just being used by mistake or ignorance?
The reason I bring this up is that, from time to time online, you will encounter people that actually take offense to the use of ALL CAPS. Their complaint isn’t that what you wrote is hard to read, which it can be especially for those with vision problems, but that it was written in ALL CAPS. The content notwithstanding, this apparently offends them.
So, we’ve actually reached the point where people are offended not by what you said but by what it looks like. How overly sensitive are these people? What next, will people be offended if you use the wrong typeface? “You have deeply offended me, my family and an entire generation of my fellow countrymen by composing your message in Times New Roman! Curse you!”
I’ve had people yell and shout at me. I’ve had people send me messages in ALL CAPS. There’s quite a big difference between the two, even if the message in ALL CAPS was meant in anger. If you’re equating the two—good grief!
Maybe some people spend way too much time online or texting or whatnot if they are going to take offense at letter forms.
OMG. I FREAK OUT WHEN PEOPLE ABUSE CAPS LOCK.
IT DRIVES ME ABSOLUTELY MAD WHEN I SEE ALL CAPS, ALL THE TIME.
ESPECIALLY WHEN PEOPLE UPDATE THEIR STATUS ON FACEBOOK IN ALL CAPS!
Unless of course you REALLY are shouting/yelling and just trying to make a point.
HI DCR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOOO WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE