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US Navy to drop 'rude' all-caps messages
The tradition started in the 19th century, when teletype machines did not have lowercase letters.
By Kim Peterson 6 hours ago
Internet users hate reading anything in all capital letters. It's the digital equivalent of shouting, a faux pas that's considered the height of online rudeness.
The U.S. Navy, however, has been communicating in all caps since the 19th century. And it's been a little jarring for young sailors especially to see capital letters used in orders and other official messages.
So the Navy is dropping all caps to make its communications "more readable and less rude," reports The Wall Street Journal -- which cheekily decided to write up the situation in all capital letters.
A Navy official told The Journal that the decision will save money. It's part of a new, cost-effective messaging system that comes online in August. "If an ancillary benefit is that sailors reading message traffic no longer feel they're being screamed at. . . that's a good thing, too," the official added.
Other units of the military still use all-caps, and other officers are hoping the rest of the Pentagon follows the Navy's example.
This is not an example of the Navy going soft, The Journal reports. "Only now is the Navy acknowledging that the rest of the world has embraced lowercase letters and that all-caps messages are deeply annoying," the newspaper added.
The tradition started in the 19th century, when teletype machines did not have lowercase letters.
By Kim Peterson 6 hours ago
Internet users hate reading anything in all capital letters. It's the digital equivalent of shouting, a faux pas that's considered the height of online rudeness.
The U.S. Navy, however, has been communicating in all caps since the 19th century. And it's been a little jarring for young sailors especially to see capital letters used in orders and other official messages.
So the Navy is dropping all caps to make its communications "more readable and less rude," reports The Wall Street Journal -- which cheekily decided to write up the situation in all capital letters.
A Navy official told The Journal that the decision will save money. It's part of a new, cost-effective messaging system that comes online in August. "If an ancillary benefit is that sailors reading message traffic no longer feel they're being screamed at. . . that's a good thing, too," the official added.
Other units of the military still use all-caps, and other officers are hoping the rest of the Pentagon follows the Navy's example.
This is not an example of the Navy going soft, The Journal reports. "Only now is the Navy acknowledging that the rest of the world has embraced lowercase letters and that all-caps messages are deeply annoying," the newspaper added.
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