What would you feel when someone shouted at you? Of course, you would get angry. It makes you feel like burning all over and your blood boiling when you hear someone yelling at you. Nobody wants to be shouted at, may it be in person or on the telephone. If you are thinking that you cannot be shouted at in printing, you think wrong. Printing does not stop people from shouting. They do it in web pages, e-mails and even printed materials like brochures and pamphlets. How do they do this? ALL CAPS!
All caps is already being overused to get the attention of people to what you are saying. If you put it into perspective, this basically amounts to someone shouting at you, in prints.
Before the computer came into existence, the typewriter was the one source of printing tool. In typewriting, it is common to see words in all caps as they serve as the words with heavy emphasis. Titles are most commonly seen in this state. As with other important subtitles and headings. With the computer, this method of all caps has been changed to highlights, change in colors and making them bold. These styles of emphasizing words in writing certainly is much better than those in all caps.
According to studies, it is more difficult to read words that are put in all caps than those in the uppercases and lowercases. This is attributed to the fact that people tend to look and read words not only by their letters but also by their shapes and their patterns. In all caps, the shape is all the same, no ups and downs. Therefore, the association is more difficult compared with those in small letters. All the shape and height are the same. The tendency in reading all caps is to read them letter by letter, thus slowing the reading process and taking some time for figuring out the word that are formed with the letters.
In printing, all caps take a lot of time typing and there are more chances of errors being committed. Even designers find it hard to go through their designs using the letters in all caps. The probability that they would surely convert it into lowercase letters is more likely as this would make their work easier.
The idea of all caps as a tool for shouting in printing might have sprung from its tendency to express more emphasis and stress. It also goes on to prove the connection that people have with these letters. They do not get to encounter much all caps in their printing and designs.
So the next time someone wrote to you in ALL CAPS, ask them WHY ARE THEY SHOUTING AT YOU, in ALL CAPS, of course.
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About the author:
The author got the flair for reading and writing when she received a subscription of the school newsletter in kindergarten. She got her first article published on that same newsletter in the third grade.
