BY ERIC ZORN | E-mail | About | RSS

« Hey hey, ho ho, bad Don Imus must not go! | Main | Tips for tours »

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Get shifty, Bunky

I agree with Marcia Skelly Kilpatrick, who, in comments here and on her blog is on the warpath against rampant lowercase-ism on the Internet.

"Look to the right and left of your little fingers," she wrote today in the preamble of her response to "tb," a capital-letter-impaired contributor to the Change of Subject scrum. "There's a `shift' key there. If you push on it, you can capitalize the beginning of a sentence and proper nouns as well! I know, it's a revolutionary idea."

The post by "tb" had begun "oh, eric. the family institute is out protecting us from the societal ills of gay people.."  and went on that  lower-case vein.

Earlier this week at Ants Marching, her blog, MSK wrote:

I cannot take content seriously when it is delivered in an unattractive manner. If a person can't take the time to use correct spelling and grammar, then I'm not going to be able to take the time to consider what he or she has to say... I'm no English major. I've never even taken a college-level English class. I'm totally aware that my writing is not perfect; at any given moment, I could be violating rules I didn't even know existed. But I try. I make the effort to keep my writing both civilized and aesthetically pleasing. To me, this effort is not wasted. I wish everyone else who feels the need to publish online felt the same.

She's not saying, and neither am I, that every e-mail blog comment or even Web posting must be in high-falutin' English with never a typo or disagreeable verb.

She's saying, as I am, that you ought to show your audience a little respect. Show them you consider them worth the effort of capitalizing proper nouns and the words at the beginnings of sentences. 


Should one strive to use proper capitalization when communicating online?

Yes. Always. 61.2%
no i really don't think it matters.

 348 total responses



I agree up to a point, but one of the charming things about Internet discussions is their informality.

There's this regular poster on one of the blogs I often visit who can't seem to type three words without misspelling, transposing letters, etc. It's become his style. I only have to glance at the first few words to know, "Oh, it's Moonglum again."

For me, content trumps all. On the other hand, I notice that many of the most vitriolic, fact-challenged posters seem to have a lot of trouble with spellling, capitalization, grammar, etc. Funny how that works, isn't it?

Seems to be a generational issue to me. As a contempory of EZ, I attempt to use caps, punctuation, etc. Casual observation of many nieces and nephews online conversations shows much more casual usage with no caps, many abbreviations, etc. The impact of text and IM?

And don't turn on the caps lock instead. Just use lots of ellipses (...) and exclamation points.

What a childish and narrow view. "If you can't be bothered to.... than I won't...."

What is Ms.Kilpatrick? A six year old on the playground?

Anyone who is this bothered by the failure to use the shift key, obviously has "issues" unrelated to the "aesthetics" of how a piece of writing looks. Perhaps the same defecits that kept Ms. Kilpatrick from taking even a single college level English class, are what is making her unable to perform the simple task of reading a sentence without capital letters.

i suppose it all depends on how important you think capitalization is to begin with. i remember in high school (my first experience with religious schooling) seeing "god" and moreso "he" capatalized and thinking it was ridiculous.

what is so important about one's name, or a street, or a place that it must be capatalized? do people not know that rome is Rome, or that wabash ave is Wabash Ave?

i guess i just think that mostly in informal/online writing, capitalization isn't that important. however, punctuation and grammar always will be, as they are integral parts of sentences.

ZORN COMMENT -- Just be glad we're not Germans. They capitalize all Nouns. What a Drag that must be.

I fear you've opened the floodgates to comments typed in all lowercase and without punctuation, just for the fun of it. Or people who want to show more than a litte respect -- showing tons of respect BY CAPITALIZING EVERYTHING.

But you know what? The person you agree with, in the first bit you quote ("There's a shift key there. If you push on it..."), is being snotty and dismissive. She's insulting the folks whose behavior she wants to change. Not the best strategy -- if you don't respect people, why would you expect them to show respect to you? Even more, why would you expect them to show respect to you in the exact way you'd like?

And the "if... then..." statement that you quoted, and your commentary on it? The faulty premise is assuming that folks who don't punctuate or capitalize are doing so out of a lack of respect. There is often great content, persuasive argument, wonderful thoughts in "all lowercase" comments on your blog posts -- I hope you don't agree so much with MSK that you assume your posters' grammar choices/typing strategies indicate their level of respect for you.

In a sense, I write for a living, and definitely understand the need for good grammar, rules of punctuation, capitalization, etc. And I certainly understand the reasons for vetting comments solicited on a newspaper site's blog for decency, commercial pitches, trolling, and so forth. But when you solicit comments and start vetting for typing strategies under the guise of "respect" -- that's going too far. You've touched folks enough to get them to write in and express themselves. Shouldn't that be good enough?
SFGate.com (the San Francisco Chronicle's site) is much more permissive in their comment strategy, and I think it works as well as -- and maybe better than -- the Trib's.

ZORN REPLY -- Well, to be clear, I don't, obviously, "vet" or edit out comments in all lower case. That would be going WAY too far.
And I understand lapses, typos, misspellings. I make them all the time, as you see in comments (but not as often in the main postings because I have editors who help me with those).

It's not merely a matter of respect. It's a matter of communication. Which is easier to read, a sentence or paragraph that is properly punctuated and capitalized, or one that is not? If you want to communicate your ideas, make it easy for the reader to figure out what they are!

If a person doesn’t take his thoughts seriously enough to make a minimal effort at proper capitalization and spelling, I can’t take his thoughts seriously enough to read them.

How about showing a little respect for yourself, not just your reader? A blogger should consider him- or herself a serious writer, and behave accordingly. As for comments on blogs and internet articles, there are usually many different opinions expressed in a comments section. When I see a comment with which I disagree, and the writer can't spell, punctuate or even put spaces between words, I automatically assume the writer is ignorant and of course nothing less than an example of the caliber of the opposing side's proponents. When I see the same lack of writing skills in an opinion with which I agree, I sigh at the damage done to "our side". By the way, classy prose, huh? It took me twenty minutes.


ZORN REPLY -- I don't think it's a matter of inability to type well...I think it's an exhibition of simply not caring enough to try. BiG diFFerEnCe.

What about some middle ground? I'll admit I'm biased toward proper capitalization, grammar, spelling and punctuation. It makes everything easier to read and follow. But to dismiss content based on appearances is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I'd have to ask Marcia, EZ, SCAM, etc. if they've ever read e.e. cummings, for example? Would you dismiss him on the basis of his lack of (or odd use of) capitals and punctuation?

tb makes an interesting point in his response on the previous thread, something like, would you dismiss Albert Einstein because of his wild hair? I remember in junior high home ec class (back in the good old sexist days), we had a segment on grooming and hygiene. The teacher showed us slides of people who looked made up to the nines, totally disheveled or somewhere in between and asked who we thought would make a good employee. I remember thinking that the people somewhere in the middle were the best candidates. Obviously you have to have some self-respect and hygiene is certainly important. But if someone has to get up at 3:00 a.m. just to do their hair and make-up, they're probably going to be too tired by the time they get to work to be very effective. I think a blog entry is similar. Too many errors and it's just too hard to follow the point. But too polished and I start to wonder what's really up with that person.

Okay, Seriously now.

EZ, you hit the nail on the head. When communicating online, proper grammar and punctuation is the equivalent of how one dresses -- how you present yourself to the world. One who posts sloppy prose, regardless of the content, has the same credibility issue as a person with a sloppy, unkempt appearance in the real world. He may be brilliant, but it appears that he simply doesn't care what impression he makes.

Eric - I agree with Marcia Skelly Kilpatrick that proper grammar and punctution in all forms of communication is important. Although even the few of us who seem to take the time to proofread sometimes miss errors. (I'm a big fan of the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves.")

Those who don't bother to punctuate or capitalize must not care what others think of their ability to express themselves. I wonder how many of those who profess not to care about spelling and punctuation while they communicate electronically nonetheless rail against those who speak non-stanadard English (e.g., Ebonics). I view those who send unpunctuated messages while using poor grammar as being similar to those who speak Ebonics as their form of English. Their refusal to adhere to commonly accepted language norms detract from the messages they are trying to convey - regardless as to the merit of the underlying ideas expressed.

I'd also like to give a self-congratulatory "huzzah" to those of us who choose to use proper capitalization and puncuation in our text messages (with two spaces between every sentance to boot!). It might take me 50% longer than my friends to compose a text message, but recipients can more quickly and more accurately comprehend my messages. Sure there might be a hint of haughtiness involved, however it's mostly out of respect for the reader.

I really don't get those message board posters who can't even take them time to display their own names/handles with proper capitalization or spacing. Those guys automatically lose two points on the respect scale.

Sorry, Eric, but the Tribune's editorial page loses heft every time the IN OTHER WORDS section appears in print. I understand that the editors probably feel hip and trendy by printing comments pulled from blogs, but come on. Does a world-class newspaper really publish op-ed commentary attributed to folks named "Dafydd" or "Knightindragonland"?

It's fine, I guess, to find and print comments originally published in blogs. Commentary from the online citizenry is just as relevent as letters to the editor or man-on-the-street interviews. Just lose the ridiculous pseudonyms and use folks' real, verifiable names.

i am old enough to be ez's father. the horror!
and he punctuates, spells correctly, & capitalizes
i avoid the third, while trying to adhere to the first two.

also, i probably could have fathered scam. the shame!
and he believes a minimum of correct spelling & capitalization are indicators of serious thought and worth of perusal.
where i believe that content is all, though i prefer it grammatical and well punctuated.

i type my entries in a modern equivalent of carolingian miniscule and avoid the

now since the current english/american form of capitalization, punctuation, & spelling only began in the mid-16th century and is changing and evolving as we speak (read!) i consider my style to be another step in the evolution of the english language. consult some pre-1950 works on english grammar and usage to wonder at the changes which have occurred in the last half-century.

and who of you can point out the grammatically questionable usages above in my screed?

What is Ms.Kilpatrick? A six year old on the playground?

No, I'm not. I'm 12. And I may not have taken a college-level English class, but I can spell deficit correctly.

The person you agree with, in the first bit you quote ....is being snotty and dismissive. She's insulting the folks whose behavior she wants to change.

I'm not at all interested in changing their behavior. I just want them to know that I am totally not reading what they have to say.

And I am, in fact, proud to be snotty and dismissive of such behavior.

I am very well acquainted with e.e. cummings and a few other writers who made a "schtick" out of non-capitalization (The person who did the letters from "archy" the insect, for example). But I would imagine that in their "everyday" writing these people were well-aware of the rules of grammar that they made a reputation out of breaking. It's called "artistic license."

I think the current trend of non-capitalization by the masses got a great impetus from that impossibly pretentious TV show, "thirtysomething." Right around this time k.d. lang's career got off the ground as well. Suddenly non-capitals were chic/hip/edgy/trendy.

However, what might have been just another here-today-gone-tomorrow fad got another boost when the Internet became capital-unfriendly. Consider "case sensitive" e-mail addresses, website addresses, etc.

I am proud to be very "old school" about matters or punctuation and capitalization. It drives me crazy, for example, to see references to God and the Bible in lower case in some religious as well as secular publications. But I fear that this is yet another culture war that the pre-1970s generations are destined eventually to lose.

ZORN REPLY -- are Web addresses and e-mail addresses still case sensitive? I know some passwords are...a real drag .. but gmail, for one, is NOT case sensitive.

I find sentences that don't start with capital letters unreadable. So I don't bother trying.

well first of all, as a long time poster, first time topic-generator, i feel proud to have contributed to change of subject. i visit and post to this blog often because i think eric has great insights to current topics of conversation, and i often agree with his position on the topic du jour.

except this one (shocker, i know).

i've been communicating in all smalls in informal communication for some time - that communication being email and comments sections to blog posts and the like. and i take great pride in my ability to spell correctly and properly utilize grammar - except of course for my distaste for capital letters.

first and foremost, my use of the now-controversial all smalls is in no way meant to insult the reader. as one earlier poster noted, this may be a generational thing ... as a writer who cut his teeth in the digital age, i spend less time worrying about proper capitalization and more time thinking about the content of my posts.

these communications are, as eric pointed out in the other thread that prompted this topic, quick dash offs meant to throw my two cents into the mix. i generally write these things in about 5 minutes and don't take the time to review my entry and edit for mistakes.

far more egregious an offense, to me at least, is not knowing how to spell, or use proper punctuation, or use the passive voice or split infinitives or all the other nasty little things that make something unreadable. i never thought that reluctance to use capital letters was in that category. and i was annoyed that marcia dodged responding to the content of my post, and instead resorted to petty and snotty remarks, putting form far over substance.

i will continue to use all smalls in informal communications ... it's kind of my style, and i like it. if that causes some people to take me less seriously, so be it. i don't think the content of my posts deserves to be dismissed because of the lack of proper capitalization, but i certainly can't control how people choose to react to something i've written.


As Marshall McLuhan pointed out long before the advent of the personal computer, the medium is the message. If the communication is meant to be understood, it should be reasonably well presented. I don't buy this non-capitalization business as a legitimate "advance" of the English language. How hard is it to press a shift key?

Given that Marcia is my favorite blogger babe, I would automatically agree with her, but in this case she's absolutely right: No one is suggesting that we need grammar and spelling police to ferret out every honest mistake, but deliberately not writing in standard form is counterproductive at best, and death to the person's message at worst.

thanks, tb. love ya.

And for the record, e.e. cummings is a. overrated, and b. an attention-seeker.

I'll come down in the middle. I write in casual voice, but I pride myself on my spelling and (most of) my grammar. I paid attention in junior high; couldn't you?

That said, I've worked as an editor with some brilliant writers who simply cannot spell. I've come to think that for some people (not all), spelling is just a blind spot, like a learning disorder. They don't see the word on the page; they don't hear it in their head. It comes from another place, and so "cheese" is spelled with only two Es.

For others, though, it's just laziness.

e.e. cummings is not overrated. That is all.

I think conciously choosing to avoid using caps on something you've contributed to a public forum, is like deciding to never again wear underwear in public (not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that, unless your pants are worn out - but I digress)

It sort of strikes me as gimmicky; the tactic would compete with the message you really wanted to send - unnecessarily weakening it.

Well, Eric, if you look at Marcia's comment here at Apr 11, 2007 5:05:16 PM, you'll possibly conclude that she's not saying, as you are, that one ought to show one's audience a little respect -- you'll possibly conclude that she doesn't respect her audience.

Me -- if given a choice between folks using lowercase typing on the Web and folks who are just mean on the Web, I'll take l.c. every time.

Is it wrong to be amused because she doesn't use quotation marks when quoting other people's writing? Such a lack of respect! Well, at least folks won't have to take her seriously...

When I was about 11, and just learning how to type, I eschewed capital letters. I thought I was showing my unique vibe and disdain of dusty old traditions.

That ended when my grandmother thanked me for taking the time to write her a letter and said it was almost readable. Oops. It took that to teach me that, no matter how bright and witty I thought I was being, it didn't matter if no one could read the end product.

I spend a lot of time reading, both online and in more traditional media. With time at a premium, I don't have the patience to stumble through pages written in all caps, no caps, or in IM abbreviations. If the author doesn't make it easy for me, the audience, I'm not going to take the time to stumble through it. Best use of time and energy is to go on to the next, more legible, page or site.

As for showing my "unique vibe" and "disdain of tradition" these days -- I do graphic arts.

Marcia asks for respect in a disrespectful way that completely dilutes her plea. respect isn't about commanding that people talk to you in YOUR language or commanding that people agree with YOUR ideas. i think a respectful response to tb's comment would have been to respond to the substance of his well-articulated and thoughtful posts. tb commented on the lack of evidence of the alleged societal ills caused by gay people. that Marcia resorts to criticizing his lack of capital letters is a concession to tb's substantive points.

but Jay really won the "most disrespectful post" prize with his comment that: "I view those who send unpunctuated messages while using poor grammar as being similar to those who speak Ebonics as their form of English. Their refusal to adhere to commonly accepted language norms detract from the messages they are trying to convey - regardless as to the merit of the underlying ideas expressed."

this glaringly racist and classist comment isn't fit to print. if i were editing this thread, i'd let in the "capital-letter-impaired" posts any day over this degrading post. just to be clear, Jay, we know who you're refering to when you say "they" and i disagree that everyone in the united states should aspire to imitating white, elitist, intolerant speech.

I’m with Marcia. Folks are accustomed to reading prose that is written to a certain norm. It’s simple courtesy to make an effort to write correct English. Like taking a shower and wearing clean clothes. Not doing so is an insult to your readers. It’s nothing but lazy. That is unless you don’t know any better or you’re making some kind of political statement. And what a weak political statement it is. In the end there are no rules. You set your own standards.

Are you sure that's a mop handle between your teeth?

People who type using only lower case letters are either lazy, ignorant or unskilled. Or any combination thereof.

Proper capitalization & spelling makes reading easier!
It's that simple.
And if more people would use Firefox 2.0, they would see that it even can spellcheck what ever you type into comments boxes like this one.
And anyone that keeps the caps lock key on is a total fool. It's very difficult to read that.
Which is why I don't understand the post office's decision to all cap addresses in their software.

Here's the way I do it... If I'm writing something that the general public is going to see, I capitalize and try to use proper grammar and spelling. That's how I write emails to people I don't know well, how I write on my blog, and how I write things to people at work/school. But if it's an email to friends, I don't usually bother to capitalize, especially if I am in a hurry or writing a quick note. I think it's an image thing - like it or not, writing all lowercase and without good grammar looks immature and unprofessional. I had friends in college who would write emails to professors saying "when will u be in ur office so we can discuss my paper?" I know it's a generational thing, but it doesn't seem right to me. I'm 27, so I pretty much grew up in the digital age, and stuff like that still rubs me the wrong way. When I get emails written like that at my job, it makes it harder to take the person seriously. So, my rule is, public = best behavior, friends = let yourself go.

Hey Bill, in my defense, I tried to use quotes, but the comment box didn't accept HTML.

I was asked to weigh in on this conversation. I don't have a lot of time to read these sorts of things, but usually am glad when I do because I love the give-and-take.

First of all, I don't think Marcia was being mean. Sounds like she was exaggerating to make a point. Big deal. Buck up.

Love the humor, Mike and Jack.

As for the substance of the discussion, I agree in spirit with Marcia. I admit, however, that sometimes in an e-mail, when I'm trying to type as fast as I'm thinking, I make a lot more mistakes than I once did on the typewriter. (I'm from the olden days, by the way.)

And sometimes, I don't fix the mistakes, all the mistakes, as I should. I figure, oh heck, it's an e-mail, who cares if I don't put the hyphen in "e-mail" ? Who cares if I put an "s" instead of an "f" in "if"? Who cares whether I capitalize proper nouns? (That German rule, by the way, freaks me out.)

In the olden days, when we used typewriters, I didn't mess around because the trouble to repair was more than I could take.

I learned to type it right the first time, as best I could. Then there was eraseable typing paper, white-out correction fluid, those cool white-out strips and, finally, the piece de resistance (sp?) -- the IBM Selectric, truly magnificent.

With the advent of computer writing programs and instant messaging, text messaging, e-mails, and venues such as this, I have become lax. I admit. I backslid. Backslided (sp?)

I sometime space improperly between sentences and words because I'm unsure just how many spaces I'm looking at. With all the different fonts and whatnot, there isn't the uniformity there once was.

I can appreciate the casual look, but I reserve that -- and my mismatched socks -- for close friends and family. When it comes to formal issues, memos to the boss, etc., I get it right, the best I can. But I'm probably just old-fashioned.

Garry - I'd guess that the PO uses all caps because it's easier for machines to read accurately.

If all caps is SHOUTING, then all lowercase must be whispering...


Posted by: El Famous Burrito | Apr 11, 2007 4:40:47 PM


ZORN REPLY -- I'd like to figure a way to let people adopt consistent, somewhat verifiable and, at their choice, pseudonymous "comment names" that look and sound like real names or variations thereof. First names and last initials, say, along with, maybe, home town or neighborhood: Bob F., Highland Park, for instance. I don't think this would unduly harm the feast of reason and flow of soul.

Lazy people refuse to use proper grammar and punctuation when writing and then try to justify it. I don't care if it's a text message or a full length novel that is being composed. The longer we allow this kind of laziness, the more it becomes acceptable English and I think that is doing a great disservice to the younger generation and all generations to come. Spelling and grammar in this country is becoming abysmal and I find that very sad.

No one is perfect but I have respect for those of us who try to maintain proper standards.

I wonder if part of the reason at least some people react badly to writing without even basically correct capitalization, grammar, spelling, and punctuation is that it is a clue that the writer may not be very well educated. I doubt that many people could make it through a good high school and college without these skills and once you have them, it is harder to turn them off than to let your fingers automatically reach for the caps key at the beginning of a sentence or certain words.

By the way, it makes a big difference to me when I can tell that English is not the writer's native language. That is partly because I respect the fact that the writer is doing something I cannot come close to doing. However, I think it is mostly because the relationship between these skills and education is a lot weaker when someone is communicating in a foreign language -- at least in the U.S.

When I send emails or post on blogs I always use proper capitalization and punctuation, but I rarely worry about either when I send IMs. However, I always obsess over spelling.

I teach a grammar and business writing course at a local adult educational program, and for the most part I'm a purist regarding who/whom and similar rules. Maybe that's why I can always count on a few gasps when I inform my students that I no longer bother with capitalization in casual emails. Every mode of communication has its own character. As I tell students, we don't say "thee" and "thou" anymore because language changes with the times. To me, it's fascinating to note the ways in which emailing, IMing and text messaging have so quickly created a new shorthand that's fully understood by those who use it regularly. I find that my generation, the boomers who set out to change the world in the first place, is surprisingly resistant to change today. I believe that once people learn a skill like capitalization and spelling, they want to be able to display their expertise and just can't deal with any of those skills becoming obsolete. Such requirements help them make sense of their world, as they can categorize other people by how good they are at those same skills. But our generation cannot dictate to the next how to apply language skills to a brand new form of communication. All we can do is choose to either join in the fun or dig in our heels as the stodgy old fogeys we swore we never would become.

Refusal to capitalize a person's name is a form of devaluation of that person's humanity.

JL - actually, i find it much easier to get ideas out more quickly when i'm not reaching for the shift key every split-second. and a lack of capatalization does nothing to inform you of the intelligence or education level of the writer. most of my friends (myself included) send emails and make blog posts using all lower case - and we're all certainly educated and intelligent.

ZORN REPLY-- If you know how to type at all correctly you don't "reach" for the "shift" key any more than you "reach" for the "a" key.

Perception is reality. Not punctuating makes you appear stupid. End of story.

On a related tangent, it drives me nuts when people don't organize their thoughts into coherent paragraphs, instead just forming one big block of text.

Perception is reality. Not punctuating/capitalizing makes you appear stupid. End of story.


i just want to make sure the proper distinction is drawn here: not utilizing proper capitalization in emails and casual communications is not "lazy" or a sign of unintelligence. it's a style choice, which should always be contrasted with writing rife with misspellings and grammatical errors, which are not style choices but rather evidence of poor writing skills.

it's not that i'm too lazy to hit the shift key, or that i'm trying to assault the reader's eyes, but rather that i actually prefer the way all small letters look. and i can't see how that makes an entry difficult to read ... although maybe i've just become so accustomed to it that it's like second nature.

it's just that a lot of the posters here tend to equate the DECISION to not capitalize letters with the MISTAKE of misspelling a word or using poor grammar and/or punctuation. one is evidence of an unintelligent writer, one is not.

Wow, tb, you just tried to justify your lack of using capitalization. Thank you for proving my point.

let's try a corollary using your logic, amy:

all people named amy are communists, although they'll deny it if you ask them.

so are you a communist, amy?


thanks for proving my point!

I think TB's effort to justify the lack of capitalization as a "style choice" is many times more annoying than not using proper capitalization due to ignorance or laziness. From my perspective, there is something very unpalatable about someone with enough ego to develop a "style choice" for blog commenting.

That being said choosing the wrong style can indeed make you look stupid. Imagine parachute pants and a members only jacket, all topped off with a mullet. In this case, TB's choice of style screams "stupid".

In my opinion, it is more unintelligent to make the decision to purposefully look stupid than it is to make a mistake because you might be stupid.

get with it, people. capitalization in emails, blog postings and many other forms of electronic communication is passe. there's nothing lazy or egotistical about it. i like Rosanne's point about language changing with the times and different grammar rules applying to different forms of communication.

i suggest y'all get thee out of thine old high school grammar books and into the digital age.

Dear Imm -

I didn't realize that my espoused preference for the use of commonly accepted English language norms makes me "racist," "classist" or "elitist". Such a preference appears to be shared by over half the posters on this thread. Are they, too, all racist, classist and elitist?

People who use proper English aren't limited to those who are "white, elitist [and] intolerant" - they are merely people (of any race or socio-economic group) who have taken the time to (try to) master the English language.

Those who regularly demonstrate a command of standard English generally have their comments taken seriously by ALL cross-sections of English-speaking society. People who do not demonstrate such a proficiency in their written and spoken English - for whatever reason (laziness with respect to spelling and punctuation, regional dialect, overuse of slang, etc.) - run the risk of having their thoughts "tuned out" by at least some portion of their audience. (See many posts in this thread, for example.)

In retrospect, I'm sorry I used the Ebonics example in my earlier posting. I realize that by holding this up as an example, I created an unnecessary diversion which drew attention away from my point: If you don't use standard, grammatical English when you communicate your thoughts to others, you're likely to lose some of your audience who simply won't take you as seriously as those who do.

I'm definitely a dinosaur. I can see the language changing before my eyes in the digital age. Not to judge, but it seems predicated on expediency rather than on enriching the language.

In a hundred years or so, they will need to take this comment to a professer of Old American English to have it translated.
Go back a hundred years or so and marvel at the eloquence of the letters written by Civil War soldiers.

Which direction are we headed? Into a renaissance of creativity in expression of the human condition or toward becoming dim-witted corporate drones driven by consumption?

hi Jay,

thanks for your thoughtful post. i agree that when writers use nontraditional forms they run the risk of losing a part of their audience. the flipside of this is also true: those who disregard or discredit substance because of form run the risk of missing out on a lot of great content. for me, i am always willing to put in a little extra effort to try and understand someone who doesn't speak exactly the same way i do. my experience in doing this has been quite rewarding.

This discussion has been very interesting! I agree with Imm that this trend is driven by expediency, not language enrichment. While literature may aim to enrich, the point of communication, especially electronic communication, is to communicate as accurately and efficiently as possible. It's not all that much trouble to hit the shift key, but once you get used to not doing it you realize that it does slow you down just a bit. So on the sending end, lower case seems more efficient to me. On the receiving end, once you get used to reading all lower-cased sentences I don't believe it impedes your understanding. However, if this blog is any indication, it seems to actually offend people. I'm amazed by that! It takes so much more to offend me. But you can't argue with people's feelings. As time goes on, though, chances are that more people will just get used to it, and fewer will object.

The link for this post has changed; it's here:


The comments to this entry are closed.

More about Eric Zorn


•  The Tweet of the Week 2015 Compendium
•  Transition time
•  Open Thread: The Weeks In Review
•  Fine lines final four
•  Two takes on medical tokes
•  Missed it by that much
•  16 is the new 21
•  Fine lines


• `The Office'
• American Idol
• Anthony Porter Case
• Blago trial
• Books
• Chicken!
• Commenters
• Common Sense Caucus
• Current Affairs
• Film
• Fine Expressions
• Fine Shots
• Food and Drink
• Friday Night Lights
• Grey's Anatomy
• How Long Does it Take?
• Jessica Reynolds
• Mad Men
• Megan Crepeau
• Month in Review
• Obama
• Peterson case
• Predictions
• Prickly Pair Podcasts
• Race to the Slop
• Religion
• Rhubarb Patch
• Rules for commenting
• Somebody Nobody Asked
• Speaking of Sports
• Spit takes
• Sports
• Television
• The Killing
• This I No Longer Believe
• Trayvon Martin case
• Video Commentaries
• Webliographies
• Weeks in Review
• YaGotta

December 2015 posts
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31

Browse archives

Chicago Tribune Media Group