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1 Month Ago
I'm new to online discussions. Never owned a computer. Until deciding to try POD sales I never wanted to ...just wanted to be gardening or whatever. Still only have a cell phone. I only got my first cell phone cause work made me.
Apparently capitalizing is "shouting" and I feel stupid. I often read abbreviations people use and don't know what they mean but that's OK. So I regret "shouting". So is there anything else or advice for someone who's new.
My jobs didn't require me to learn this stuff so it's all new.
For a job I had for a long time I knew about 100 sign language words (which was more than most people I worked with ......ie if the only words you know are "eat, drink, toilet, sleep,yes, no,please, thank you, stop" than I am fluent.. if you are fluent I'm lost.)
This kind of seems like a different language almost. Any suggestions.
Reply Order
1 Month Ago
You are not alone; years ago with the advent of emails -- I was rudely informed that CAPS was yelling. Someone had to tell me -- I didn't know.
Sometimes still I have to lookup online what abbreviations/shorthand is when someone sends me an email.
1 Month Ago
I suggest a lot of forum and online reading. Do what others do, I guess. Stay out of religious and political discussion (here or anywhere else for that matter). Have fun and welcome aboard.
1 Month Ago
The highest and best level of all editing before posting is to trim all repetitive stuff out.
Some folks are very direct and economical with their writing.(the last two lines are the same, one could be trimmed) Everyone appreciates that.
1 Month Ago
SOMETIMES -- call caps is for emphasis. But if ITS ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME THEN ITS SHOUTING.. ECHO ECHO ECHO.... But that's about it. You can do bold and italics but that's not worth the trouble.
For sign language I only know a few gestures, but its all in french and some italian, and tends to get me into trouble.
A different language is when they abbreviate everything or talk strictly in picture. Like i'm supposed to somehow know the eggplant comes before the pumpkin but not after the poop. Its simple stuff we learn in school... What is the past tense of a pineapple? Who knows.
----Mike Savad
1 Month Ago
LA, so glad I'm not alone on this.
Ed, last fall I started reading discussions here so I've learned a little for a slower learner sometimes. I can avoid religion pretty good. I try not to be "political" but I am an environmentalist and spent my entire adult life working at poverty wages and am currently involved in local civil rights campaign so it seems like everything I think do or say seems political even when I'm trying not to be political.
David, all I can say is thank you thank you thank you and thank you.
Mike, "call caps" I thought there was a word for that I couldn't remember. And I looked at discussion where I thought there was "call caps" but it was boldface instead which I don't know how to do and I guess I thought it was kind of the same thing.
Funny thing too though is with my eyes and on cellphone print size your capitalized words are easier to read and more pleasant than the other ones.
1 Month Ago
When you run into abbreviations, Google is your friend. I've been an IT system admins and analyst for 30 years and I still run into unfamiliar terms and abbreviations.
Mike is spot on about the the use of CAPs. That goes back to the pre-internet day when people used bulletin boards to communicate. Typing quick conversation works fine mostly, but unless you are a writer, it lacks the ability to convey meaning and emotions that come easier with face to face encounters.
1 Month Ago
Just never type like this:
MiKE ThE WondERFUL
when people think its funny to make it randomly cased like that, its hard to read gives others headaches and became a temporary rule not to do that. Yet I still see it in some places. Why people think that looks good is beyond me. Its nearly impossible to read.
----Mike Savad
1 Month Ago
The hardest thing about a text "conversation" is that your tone can easily be mistaken by the reader since we tend to read our own emotions into it. This means you need to be extra vigilant about being civil... and even then you will sometimes be taken the wrong way.
Regarding the abbreviations I often have to google them to find out what they mean and I have been online for years.
1 Month Ago
Abbie, that assumes code can even be used. Back in the bulletin board days, it was straight ASCII. No HTML to pretty it up. Everyone had to convey thoughts with what was available. That's still the standard I've seen on most forums.
Shelli, exactly!
1 Month Ago
Chuck, thanks. I usually figure if they close with 3 or 4 capital letters I can't figure out since it's not too important I just let it go.
Abbie, as the woman who taught me recently that there is a magic button on my cellphone that makes paragraphs I'm sure you can guess I don't know how yet to make boldface or italics. For my eyes on the cellphone print all caps and boldface are my preferred for ease of reading. And you're still the favorite college professor I never had.
Mike, I agree with you on that.
Shellie, thanks I have learned people can easily take things the wrong way not intended......which is something to work on. Of course if you say "I hate broccoli" than broccoli lovers like me might be offended because we did understand you. And until I feel it really really important to learn abbreviations I'll let go but glad to know you're still looking them up.
1 Month Ago
These are the discussion rules:
https://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=260080
1 Month Ago
Abbie,
RE:..."This is emphasis"
When I use "emphasis" I do it with capital letters plus a couple of exclamation points / marks.
That's when I think I have something important to say, and I want to shout to the world
1 Month Ago
Occasionally you will see asterisks for *emphasis* if only plain text can be used.
Common ones I took a while to get
Lol - laughing out loud
Rotfl - rolling on the floor laughing
IMO - in my opinion
if you look up internet acronyms you'll get a lot of these solved.
1 Month Ago
I used one recently in that blue sky thread I started... ICYMI= in case you missed it
then there are these
YMMV = your mileage may vary
IMHO =in my humble opinion
that is all I can think of right now.
Adding: funny on my hubby, he thought LOL meant love you lots. ROTF
Oh yeah! there is LMAO = laughing my -ss off
1 Month Ago
HG/WAHGOA!
Gil, I read them a couple times and I remember the rules say I am not supposed to say "hey Mr Bird you are a complete and total ******* and I don't even know what a ******* is but I know you is one!" so I won't do that any more I promise.
Roger, I'm with you.
Abbie,........."I don't make the rules.......oh wait."
David, thank you thank you and ...
Rose and James, how about bold asterisks? My brain still wants to capitaliz ....bad brain.
I knew lol cause even I couldn't avoid that one forever thanks.
Shellie; I like "love you lots"....can we change it?
(Hey great/what a helpful group of artists!)
1 Month Ago
I always seem to hear - "you can be a real PIA".... Which of course means In Spanish, "pia" can mean "curious" or "inquisitive," and can be used to describe someone who is eager to learn and explore new things. So I agree.
----Mike Savad
1 Month Ago
Mike,
ThiS iS SoME IN-JoKE foR AVId SpoNGE BOb FAnS
I learned that on Reddit years ago, it means more or less that what you write is meant to take as irony, if I remember correctly...
1 Month Ago
and it seems to have hit a glitch here too??? Started but didn't stop - thought I'd closed it off, but will try again (sadly it doesn't do anything until you dive off the board ... bold and now ...
1 Month Ago
@moira - I've seen people write entire paragraphs in that alt random caps look because they thought it looked artistic.. And it doesn't makes it look like there is something wrong with the keyboard.
----Mike Savad
1 Month Ago
So it’s for bold emphasis
Wow it works! I’m no longer computer illiterate!
Well, maybe that’s a wee bit overstatement.😜
1 Month Ago
Mike,
I'm sure many picked it up as a habit for whatever reason.
Anyway, I googled it, it's not irony, it's used for mockery or for sarcasm, this one (the second comment) explains it
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-teens-write-with-both-upper-and-lower-case-letters-in-a-word-while-texting
Here's the Spongebob origin
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/05/what-is-the-mocking-spongebob-capitalized-letters-chicken-meme.html
1 Month Ago
...and while I was looking for the Spongebob meme, I found this, I think it's interesting reading
https://mashable.com/article/capitalizing-first-letter-words-trend
1 Month Ago
Also there are those who like to substitute numbers for letters especially 3 for e
That is sup3r annoying to m3. but that is just me...
1 Month Ago
All this shouting, I can’t hear myself think!
BTW who here has ever “heard “ themselves think?
Raise your hands, now, if you’ve ever heard yourself think.
Anybody? Anybody? Bueller?
Sorry……off topic. Just wanted to try out bold again.😁
1 Month Ago
@ Robert
Sarcasm is, for some, hard to identify even when it’s spoken.
Just ask Sheldon Cooper. Hint : Big Bang.🤓 big bang theory sarcasm
1 Month Ago
Being able to bold my titles will be helpful!
Or being able to underline them will help, too.
Without being able to bold, underline or italicize, it makes my text look longer and more confusing than it really is. Thanks for the tip, Abbie ie, not y
1 Month Ago
Well, bolding and italicizing is better than nothing! Must have the code wrong for underlining....
1 Month Ago
Years ago I built forum/discussion software for the company I worked for. One of the features I implemented was auto caps fix. If too many capital letters were detected in a post it auto-fixed the capitalization.
Some of the users got angry about it because they really wanted to use all caps to drive home a point (yes they used it for shouting, it was a political forum for the most part and there was constant bickering), I'm pretty sure they tried using all caps to complain about it but of course the software fixed it lol.
It also rejected any posts that contained styling/formatting tags so you couldn't do things like Rodger is saying above. Had to be 100% plain text with no tags of any kind.
1 Month Ago
Question:
If all caps is "shouting" and all bold is "emphasizing", then what is all caps in bold? Screaming?
Just wondering....not that I would use it.....Noooooo. Lol (like Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde)
1 Month Ago
Yes
But not all the codes work on here but these work on other sites
Underline does not work
1 Month Ago
When I first got on this site 11 years ago, I was befuddled by people who commented on my artwork and ended with: l/v/f
Huh?
Love your very fine art???
No, it's:
like
voted
favorite
1 Month Ago
Test .... underline works ... use capital letter U, instead of lower case letter u, inside the < > brackets.
1 Month Ago
I'm going to try to whisper...shhh...don't let anyone know
Thought I could superscript my italics, oh well, maybe next time
1 Month Ago
I hear you, Mary. But barely. Could you speak louder?...without shouting of course. lol :=)
1 Month Ago
BDTMMBME
James, tnia....thanks not in advance
Mike, when I hear Pia which is rarely when I've seen of another woman named Pia I think of Pia Zadora who I think was a model and actress who was tabloid news back when ......never saw any of her movies ......from me one pia to another I guess.
David, are you a good which or a bad witch?.....and your little dog too. Thank you thank you and .......
Moira , I never saw SpongeBob. Thanks for adding links will view later.
Hugh, don't smash the computer don't smash the computer... "victory is mine. "
Bill, I recently heard myself thinking out loud.....I had shot some video in dark at local park christmas lights display two days before Christmas for posible utube channel and it was dark and in the park and I meant to be silent the entire time and when I watched part of it two months later l suddenly heard myself say something out loud and I jumped in surprise at hearing myself thinking.
David, LSHMSFOAIDMT...that should be easy to remember.
Roger, interesting choice font wonder if readers react differently to same words different fonts.
Robert, I have a problem even in real life with trying to watch out for excessive sarcasm. Not sure here ?
Deb, I thought about underlining. I'm impressed by how I think you all just learned bolding and italicizing from Abbie.
Toby, funny...mad at you taking away capitalization but not able to shout about it.
Shelli, thanks
BTW= Beautiful to witness.
PM=Post Meridian...after 12 noon
PIA= as in Pia Zadora of course but why I remember that I don't remember.
Abbie, I was gonna bring an apple for the teacher but........sorry no apple today.
Mary, thank you that is so funny.....I've seen that comment l/v/f and then shrugged my shoulders and moved on ....funny it really means something.
Bradford and Carmen.... with all your fancy computer code learnin.
Mary, you mean almost everyone that is BDTMMBME.
(But don't tell me my brain might explode.)
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