1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,680 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, we've got We've got some exciting news for 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:09,399 Speaker 1: you ridiculous historians. Noel, Max and Ben. We're doing a 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: we're doing some classic episodes. 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 2: Finally, what's this new piece of content in me feed? 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 3: You may be asking yourself, possibly in all caps, texting 6 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 3: angrily to a friend or acquaintance or colleague, what are 7 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 3: these ridiculous history fellows up too? 8 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 2: Well, it's good news for you, my friends, mm. 9 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: Hmm, and for us as well. In celebration of April six, 10 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: Drowsy Driver Awareness. 11 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 2: Day, Yeah, Hostess. 12 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: Twinkie Day, National Siamese Cat Day, and of course New 13 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: Beers Eve, we're rolling out our classics on April six, 14 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: nol I want to give a shout out to our 15 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: friends Miles and Jack over at Daily Zeitgeist. They like 16 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: to shout out national days celebrations. 17 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,640 Speaker 2: Just literally one like every day. Yeah calendar. It's so 18 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: weird and they get pretty weird and dumb, and then 19 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 2: dare we say ridiculous? Now? 20 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,320 Speaker 1: Now, for now we have been talking in terms of like, 21 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:14,319 Speaker 1: if you were reading an audio transcript ridiculous historians, you 22 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: would see most of this in lowercase letters. But true story. 23 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: Back in twenty eighteen, You and I and our fellow 24 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: our fellow colleagues, we asked ourselves a question, when did 25 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: all caps in type become the written version of yelling? 26 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 2: Yeah. It's a good question, one that we attempt to answer. 27 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 2: Dare we say succeed in answering in this episode? By 28 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 2: the way, Ben, did you know that June first is 29 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 2: National Text Day? We kind of missed the boat on 30 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 2: that one. We're not very good at temple alignments, but 31 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 2: just thought I throw that out. There's death for everything. 32 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 4: Also, guys, I just want to kind of jump in here. 33 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 2: You jumping in? Yeah? I can? I just say real quick? Max. 34 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 2: We need to make a T shirt that says, I 35 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 2: just can I just jump in here real quick. It's 36 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 2: it's like a catch phrase. I love it. I'm here 37 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 2: for I'm just saying, but sorry, Matt, please jump in 38 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 2: by all means jump. 39 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm jumping in to say that April sixth is 40 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 4: my birthday. 41 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 2: Jump jump all right? The Max, the Max Daddy makes. 42 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 4: You just kidding, is not my birthday, but it is 43 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 4: coming up. 44 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 2: The Daddy Max will make you jump jump ridiculous history 45 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 2: will make you jump. Gosh, we're roll roll the beautiful 46 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 2: bean footage. Here we go. 47 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio Hello or Should 48 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: I Say Hello? Or Should I Say You could hear 49 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: the regular letters, the capitol letters, and possibly the italics. 50 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 2: My name is Ben, My name is Nolan, Ben. Why 51 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 2: are you shouting at me? 52 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: Oh? I'm shouting at our fellow friends and neighbors and listeners. 53 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:20,680 Speaker 1: And we prepped our super producer, Casey Pegram because we 54 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: wanted him to know that someone was going to raise 55 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:24,080 Speaker 1: their voice. 56 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 2: I do have to say, Ben, that was the most 57 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 2: low grade shout that I've ever heard. That was a 58 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 2: very gentle morning shout, and I appreciate that because it is, 59 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 2: after all nine am as we record this episode. 60 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, hopefully we could get the point across, though, Nol. 61 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 1: Have you ever been in a moment, my old friend, 62 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: where you feel like you could picture what someone is 63 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: saying to you as though it were written down in text. 64 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 2: Sort of in like a comic bookie automatopoia kind of way. Yeah, sure, Yeah. 65 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: Like somebody, somebody says something with a certain amount of 66 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: emphasis or shade, and you can picture the italics when 67 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: they say, oh that one. 68 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 2: See. It's interesting that you flip it in that direction, 69 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 2: because when you look at it like that, yes, I 70 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 2: can get that tone, and I can picture a text 71 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 2: version of it. But when you flip the script and 72 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 2: look at the text only version, it is sometimes a 73 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 2: little tricky to get that nuance tone. Which is why 74 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 2: the fact that today people communicate more in the written 75 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,359 Speaker 2: language than ever before is an interesting conundrum because a 76 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,239 Speaker 2: lot is lost in translation, a lot of that tone 77 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,720 Speaker 2: and nuance flies right out the window, and we get 78 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 2: a lot of cranky people that think that you're mad 79 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 2: at them when you send them a text without any 80 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 2: kind of signifiers of levity, right. 81 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,479 Speaker 1: Right, And there's such a question that occurs because our 82 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: punctuation system is still evolving to properly convey tone. You've 83 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: heard of different attempts to, let's say, revise or clarify punctuation, 84 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: like the famous in Terra bang, which is a question 85 00:04:58,120 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: mark that is also an exclamation mark. 86 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 2: I love that word. 87 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, It's a word that could meet a lot of things, 88 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: and for our purposes, it describes this new attempt at punctuation. 89 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: And this all exists because it's so very easy to 90 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: misread text. You'll also hear the statistic that sometimes you'll 91 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: hear ninety percent, sometimes you'll hear seventy percent, or anywhere 92 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:29,799 Speaker 1: in that ballpark, just as the majority of information conveyed 93 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: when you're talking to another person in person is actually 94 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,280 Speaker 1: not verbal. And that's the reason why if you look 95 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: at a transcript of any conversation you have with any 96 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: of your friends or strangers on the street, you'll find 97 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: that the conversation itself doesn't make much sense. There are 98 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: a lot of ellipses, there are a few coherent sentences. 99 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: So when we are limited to a single form of communication, 100 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 1: a text only interface, we have to think very carefully 101 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: about what we say and how we type it. 102 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, I was talking about like little signifiers of levity, 103 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,799 Speaker 2: Like some people depend on the exclamation marks. Some people 104 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,359 Speaker 2: absolutely despise the exclamation mark. I am one that uses 105 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 2: it to show that I'm excited about something, and there 106 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 2: are some people that I think get it and some 107 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 2: people that it bugs the hell out of, like my girlfriend, 108 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 2: So I do not text her exclamation marks anymore. But 109 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 2: you know, there's emojis obviously you can use to show 110 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 2: that you're telling a joke or that you're, you know, 111 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:36,040 Speaker 2: being light about something. But the all powerful shouty caps 112 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 2: is what today's episode is about. And it turns out 113 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,360 Speaker 2: that it's got a history that goes way farther back 114 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 2: than just early Internet message boards and newsgroups, right, Ben, Yeah. 115 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:52,239 Speaker 1: Absolutely no, because we're all familiar with an Internet forum 116 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: where you see one person writing in all caps to 117 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: emphasize something, sometimes without an exclamation wark just very very loud, 118 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: and we have all seen these comments online before. Now. 119 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: I don't want to say these people because for Pete's 120 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: sake or for Polk's sake, we have all been these 121 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: people at some point when we are attempting to somehow 122 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: encapsulate the entirety of in person communication in a single 123 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: form of that communication. 124 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 2: Ben, you do not strike me as a text shouter. 125 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 2: You are far too eloquent for that. Say it ain't. 126 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: So that's very kind, but I feel that it works 127 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: really well with some comedic things. There was only one 128 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,680 Speaker 1: time in my life I ever did it seriously, and 129 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: I stand by you gotta pick your battles. So what 130 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: happened when we look at the state of communication. What's 131 00:07:55,200 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: strange is that in any Latin based language, so anything 132 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: that doesn't use idiograms, like a like an Eastern language. 133 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: Right in any Latin based language, it is known as 134 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: shouting if you use capital letters. We mentioned that this 135 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: goes further back than you might imagine, but how far 136 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: back does it go? 137 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really interesting because you would think that this 138 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 2: is sort of a product of the Internet, like we 139 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 2: were talking about with those early message boards and stuff. But 140 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 2: as it turns out, according to a really cool piece 141 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 2: written on dot com, which I think started out as 142 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 2: like an e commerce site and then ended up being 143 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 2: more of a message board, a guy by the name 144 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 2: of Dave Fleischmann kind of delves into the evolution of 145 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,400 Speaker 2: using all caps as this indicator of shouting, and he 146 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 2: actually found quite a few examples that date back hundreds 147 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 2: of years. 148 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,320 Speaker 1: As it turns out, Noel, I propose that as we 149 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: travel to meet mister Fleischmann, we go the long route 150 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,719 Speaker 1: and stop by the Roman Empire first, courtesy of our 151 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: super producer's time machine. 152 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 2: He is really a jack of all trades that Casey 153 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 2: pegri Mean produces at its Engineers has a segment on 154 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 2: the case with Casey, and as it turns out, as 155 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 2: a scientific genius and inventor of time machines, we are 156 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 2: some lucky dudes to be associated with this giant. 157 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: Do you notice that he doesn't go with us on 158 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: these jaunts through time and space? 159 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 2: No, No, he has to be in the home base, 160 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,319 Speaker 2: keeping an eye on things and making and he pulls 161 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 2: us out in a Star Trek style when things get. 162 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: Hairy, you gotta have a man at the switch. Right 163 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: here we are Roman Empire. Observe all the amazing architecture, 164 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: all the strange dress, all the written text. 165 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 2: I'm doing it. I'm observing it. 166 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: And as we're looking at this architecture, let's observe all 167 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: these numerous written inscriptions, those capital letters. Capital letters evolved 168 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: in this time during the Roman Empire because the stonecutters 169 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: who made these monuments and made these buildings also made 170 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 1: inscriptions using large straight letters. They both were easily legible, 171 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:24,480 Speaker 1: and they showed a grandiose nature. Right, they added some gravitas. 172 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:24,679 Speaker 2: That's right. 173 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 3: Ben. 174 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 2: In fact, in an article from The New Republic by 175 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 2: Alice rob rob interviews Professor Paul Luna, who's the director 176 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 2: of the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication at the 177 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 2: University of Reading in the UK, and Luna cites that 178 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 2: the use of all caps was meant to convey grandeur, pomposity, 179 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 2: esthetic seriousness, and has been used that way for thousands 180 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 2: of years. As we're seeing with our very eyes during 181 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 2: this time travel tableau. 182 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: Yes, and there's not a chicken and egg situation here, 183 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: which I find so fascinating. It is proven that what 184 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,959 Speaker 1: we interpret is uppercase today did come before. Lowercase lowercase 185 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: became an adaptation of uppercase, the same way that Taken 186 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: started out as a film and is now a television adaptation. 187 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 2: That's a really good way of looking at it. It's 188 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:28,120 Speaker 2: true lowercase letters were developed more as a functional kind 189 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 2: of thing so that books could be written by hand. 190 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 2: In fact, it was during Charlemagne's Carolinian Renaissance, which happened 191 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 2: from the late eighth century to the ninth century, where 192 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 2: a group of monks under the leadership of Alcion of York, 193 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 2: who is an English scholar, created this Carolinian minuscule script 194 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 2: that would serve as the basis for what would become 195 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,440 Speaker 2: the modern uppercase lowercase alphabet. 196 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: We know today, right that sweet Sweet mixtape, that crossover, 197 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: that ven diagram where you can write every letter at 198 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: least two ways. Fast forward to Italy. By the time 199 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: movable type reaches Italy, this writing had evolved to that 200 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: consistent model. And if we check back with our friend 201 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: mister Fleischman, whom I would like to call Dave at 202 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 1: this point, are you okay with that? I'm okay with Dave, 203 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: all right. 204 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 2: So it's one of the Daves we know. 205 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: He's one of the Daves. 206 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 2: We know. 207 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: There are several days we know, but he is one. 208 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: Dave tells us that the first citation he can find 209 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: in the modern age for the use of all caps 210 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: for some sort of emphasis occurs in a Washington, DC 211 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: newspaper called The Evening Star, in an article that published 212 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: on February twenty eighth, eighteen fifty six. And there's a 213 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: use of air quotes here. Dave calls it a quote 214 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 1: hilarious dialect story about a Dutchman who appears to be 215 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: disease written. And we have the sentence here for you. 216 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 2: I had tell's you I've got there's smallpox, don't you 217 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,439 Speaker 2: vetesh there's smallpox? This time he shouted it in capital. 218 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:16,079 Speaker 1: Letters, and the capital letters there there smallpox are small pox. 219 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,839 Speaker 1: And I think that was a great reading. Noel, we 220 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,079 Speaker 1: want to say, we are not we are not doing 221 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: any sort of Dutch stereotype or Dutch. 222 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 2: It isn't a bad Dutch Dutch voice named a Dutchman once. 223 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think it was a bad Dutch voice. 224 00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: But I want people to know that you were reading 225 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:36,559 Speaker 1: it as it was written. 226 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, indeed, yes, indeed, as it turns out, I 227 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 2: think he was talking about a small box and not 228 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 2: small box. That's what it says in the article by 229 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 2: by Fleischmann. We've got a bunch of cool examples of 230 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 2: this from mister Fleischman. Another one is from eighteen seventy 231 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 2: from The Shamrock in Ireland, which published a multi part 232 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 2: fictional series called The Sore Grievance of Well Spanked John. 233 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 2: He was well spanked and at one point the narrator, 234 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:10,720 Speaker 2: for whatever reason I'd like to get my hands on, 235 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:14,199 Speaker 2: this is thrown into a basket of duck eggs. Must 236 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:15,679 Speaker 2: have been a big basket. 237 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: Yes, and we have the line here is shortly after 238 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: his aunt is told she must pay for this great 239 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:27,800 Speaker 1: basket of duck eggs, twelve shillis and seven pence roared 240 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: my aunts in the biggest capital letters twelve and sevenpence. 241 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: Good gracious me, that is a hefty ticket price for 242 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: a basket of duckgs. But if it was big enough 243 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: for a grown. 244 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 2: Man to fall into, that actually seems like a pretty 245 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 2: good deal if he asked. 246 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 1: Me yes, or for anyone you know, don't. Isn't that 247 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: part of the American dream? A basket of duck eggs 248 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: big enough to fall in? 249 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 2: Yeah? I like it, you know, sort of like a 250 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 2: metaphor for the good life, like a bowl of cherries, 251 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 2: a basket of duck eggs. 252 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: There we go, and in the it's interesting because in 253 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: both of these cases there are capital letters, but they 254 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: apply to two different things. They have two different connotations, 255 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: which I would argue are readily apparent. In the Evening 256 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: Star example, as as Noel explained, their small pox is 257 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: humorous with its capitalization right, and we are laughing at 258 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: the character's voice because it meant small box, but they 259 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: said small pox. And in the second example, the capitalization 260 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: is on twelve and seven because the aunt is so 261 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: aghast at. 262 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 2: This rapacious fee for that bastard duck egg. Next, we 263 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 2: have one that's really interesting because it comes from a 264 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 2: manual for the proper use of the language right. So 265 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 2: this is from eighteen eighty and the book was called 266 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 2: The Standard Speaker, an Elocutionist, and it says to readers 267 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 2: give some examples that the following selections are marked in 268 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 2: capital letters, which is in capital letters in this quote 269 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,479 Speaker 2: as the appropriate place for shouting emphasis. 270 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: And it uses an example of a fantastic poem by 271 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: Tennyson called the Charge of the Light Brigade. There are 272 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: other examples such as the enthusiasm of the shout in 273 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 1: capital letters or warning signals which flash up in front 274 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: of his eyes and shout in capital letters, slow down. 275 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: That's nineteen thirteen, and all of. 276 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 2: These examples are from that piece Capital Crimes, Part one Shout, Shout, 277 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 2: Let it All Out, by our pal Dave Fleischmann. And 278 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 2: you can check this out yourself on man dot com. 279 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 2: Definitely worth a read, and it's two parts to boot. 280 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: And so we see these uses of language evolving in 281 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: different places, almost in different periods of time. And the 282 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: funny thing is that every single time pop up post 283 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,159 Speaker 1: Roman era people know what it means. They know if 284 00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:06,120 Speaker 1: it's a joke when they're reading it, they know if 285 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: it's a very strong imperative sentence. You know or any 286 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: number of traffic signs that I have been in trouble 287 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 1: for violating. 288 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 2: And we will get back to traffic signs a little 289 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 2: bit later. But you're absolutely correct. So I think all 290 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 2: of this talk we've been doing, we we've been doing 291 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:25,000 Speaker 2: in the Roman era, so we should we should, we 292 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,439 Speaker 2: should rewind back to the present. 293 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, people are looking at us. Good call, good call, Hey, Casey, 294 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,679 Speaker 1: thanks for pulling us back there. We we got a 295 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: just doing my job. 296 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:40,919 Speaker 2: Not I know, but it was getting hairy and we 297 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 2: didn't He knew. He already knew. He had it queued 298 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 2: up and ready to go. He didn't even need us 299 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 2: to use the safe word, which is fidelia. That's your 300 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 2: safe word. 301 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: I have a different one. 302 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 2: He has a little confusing. 303 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: What's up? 304 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 2: He's a little confusing. We shouldn't shou should we just 305 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 2: sync up on safe words. I'm glad to use yours. 306 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 2: Oh oh, hey, you don't want to share it. 307 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: Wouldn't be safe. 308 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:09,240 Speaker 2: That's fair. We are in a president where the president 309 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 2: of the United States tweets using all caps, which is interesting. 310 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: Yes, interesting, and sets a precedent. We are watching linguistic 311 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:26,400 Speaker 1: history evolve as we record today right. For Fleischmann, there's 312 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: a difference between shouting and signifying importance, right, And Fleischmann 313 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: does argue he's on the same page with us that 314 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: everyone alive today who uses nonline service understands that when 315 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: you use upper case you're shouting. 316 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 2: It is kind of intuitive and it makes sense visually actually, 317 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 2: because Professor Paul Luna in that New Republic piece is 318 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 2: how he characterizes him quote all capitals provides visibility maximum 319 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,439 Speaker 2: size within a given area. All caps in an email 320 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,439 Speaker 2: looks like shouting because when someone shouting, you're aware of 321 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:05,760 Speaker 2: the shout and not the nuance. All caps fills the space, 322 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:07,879 Speaker 2: so there's an element of feeling that the message is 323 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 2: crowding out everything else. And this kind of comes back 324 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 2: to the idea that in general shouty caps is looked 325 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:19,639 Speaker 2: at as kind of poor form and kind of rude 326 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 2: and almost a replacement for substance at times. 327 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, agreed, and a little bit outdated because it's associated 328 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: with perhaps a lack of familiarity with online communication in 329 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: this day and age. And found a very interesting thing here. 330 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: The original typewriters were all capital, were all uppercase letters, 331 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: meaning that if you had an older outdated keyboarder, typewriter, 332 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: something pre eighteen ninety four. So then the only letters 333 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: you could send would look like very loud telegrams. 334 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 2: And it's funny because my mom texts this way to 335 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 2: this day. I'm not joking. She texts not all caps, 336 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 2: but there's no punctuation. But that has become kind of 337 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 2: a trope, right that if you are seen as using 338 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 2: all caps, you're either being rude and loud and shouty, 339 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:17,400 Speaker 2: or like you said, you're using outdated technology and therefore 340 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 2: seen as being old school, or really just plain old. 341 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:24,320 Speaker 2: And let's get back to our tweeting president. A guy 342 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 2: named Stephen Huxley who's the Chair of Communication and Media 343 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:32,679 Speaker 2: at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. He says in 344 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 2: an article from The Washington Post that it's pretty unusual. 345 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 2: Highly unusual is how he phrases it, for a president 346 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,880 Speaker 2: to rely on all caps in these public messages. And 347 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 2: that is because I'm gonna quote him, because it's perfect quote. 348 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 2: If your message is good, your message is clear, you 349 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 2: don't need to add emphasis. It's irrelevant. He says that 350 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 2: using all caps signals that there has been a communication 351 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 2: breakdown between the sender and the receiver, so it implies 352 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,680 Speaker 2: that you're kind of struggling to communicate in a way. 353 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,400 Speaker 2: And he uses the example of someone who is trying 354 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,920 Speaker 2: to communicate with someone who speaks a foreign language and 355 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,760 Speaker 2: repeats themselves, not only repeats themselves, but actually yeah, but 356 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:20,720 Speaker 2: she shouts as though like the loudness of it will 357 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:23,359 Speaker 2: make it easier to understand, which we all know is 358 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 2: absolutely not the case, and comes off as like WHOA, 359 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 2: get out of my face with that, you know. And 360 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 2: he says that it's poor form and it's rude, and 361 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,199 Speaker 2: it's received as rude as it should be, kind of. 362 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:43,400 Speaker 1: And so if we ask where this spring from in 363 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: the modern age online, right, we know that we know 364 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: that beforehand it was relatively intuitive. Right, pay attention to 365 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: this is what that means, especially if you're looking at 366 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: a sentence where upper and lower case phrases are mixed together. 367 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: If you look at all of them, you're going, oh, no, 368 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:07,360 Speaker 1: another forward email from one of my relatives or something. 369 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: In the online sphere, early Internet users would say this 370 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,400 Speaker 1: interpretation of all caps is shouting like the current president 371 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: would go back to at least nineteen eighty four in March, 372 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: there was a fellow named Dave Deco DCOT who was 373 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: at the time a computer science student at Case Western 374 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:34,040 Speaker 1: Reserve University. In a forum, he laid out what he 375 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 1: saw as three different types of communication through visual design, 376 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: right rather than content. He said that there were three 377 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:50,360 Speaker 1: sorts of emphasis in use, and he ordered them in popularity. 378 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 1: So we're going to start at number three and go 379 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,679 Speaker 1: up to the most popular. Number three, he said, was 380 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: SPACEC words out, putting a space between the S, the P, 381 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: the A, the CDI in G in spacing. 382 00:23:05,920 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 2: And it's interesting because the spacing out words thing is 383 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,720 Speaker 2: kind of stuck around, but more in an aesthetic way, 384 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 2: with like meme pages and message boards and tumbler like 385 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 2: as a way of kind of creating sort of a 386 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 2: fun aesthetic look like For example, there's a band that 387 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 2: I really like, an electronic band called Survive, and the 388 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 2: way their name is always printed is in all caps 389 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,679 Speaker 2: with a space between every letter. So this actually combines it, 390 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 2: which is what he said it would do, spacing words out, 391 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 2: possibly accompanied by one and two on this list too, 392 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 2: being using asterisks to put sparklers around an emphasized word. 393 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:41,480 Speaker 2: I've never heard that before. That's funny. 394 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:43,439 Speaker 1: So try to hear this is going to be a 395 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: fun experiment for everybody. Try to read that sentence again 396 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: and then put asterisks if you can verbally around one 397 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: of those words. And let's see if people can guess 398 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: which one it is. 399 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 2: Using asterisks to put sparklers around emphasized words. 400 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: I feel like that was pretty a parent, don't you. 401 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 2: I wish I had a way like verbally to make 402 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 2: my words sparkle. 403 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 1: I think you do pretty well. I think we both do. 404 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: And number one, of course, is using capital letters to 405 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: make the word look louder. 406 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:14,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's true. 407 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: So this again dates back to a hardware issue, a 408 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:27,600 Speaker 1: technological adaptation issue. We talked about early typewriters. I mentioned 409 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 1: the evolution from upper lowercase for typewriters, but there was 410 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: something similar that occurred with computer terminals. 411 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. This message board post was just after 412 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 2: computer terminals switched from all upper case, like you're talking 413 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 2: about those old typewriters, to mixed case keyboards. So when 414 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,840 Speaker 2: you've got the option of either writing in lowercase or 415 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,439 Speaker 2: uppercase letters, or a mix of the two. The early 416 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 2: web thought that all caps was a great way to 417 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 2: communicate emphasis or shouting. But if you didn't know what 418 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 2: the the nettica I guess was, then using all caps 419 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,280 Speaker 2: just made you seem old, like I was saying earlier, 420 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 2: this idea that you were not up to date on 421 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 2: the newer technology or the new Internet lingo. 422 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:17,959 Speaker 1: Right. Yeah, As I pointed out with the typewriter's stuff, 423 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:22,640 Speaker 1: the implication is that perhaps somebody is still bound by 424 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: pre existing or on updated technology, or as Noel mentioned, 425 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: perhaps they are not catching up on connectiquette. So Fleischmann 426 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:38,400 Speaker 1: was pretty clear that the Internet did not invent this. 427 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:42,439 Speaker 1: So every time you get that crazy email or that 428 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: strange text or that weird post in a forum where 429 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,479 Speaker 1: somebody's saying something relatively normal, such as, I don't know, 430 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: peanut butter sandwiches are actually pretty good with bananas and 431 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: honey added, and it's all in caps, they might not 432 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,360 Speaker 1: know that they're yelling at you. It's a real thing 433 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:10,919 Speaker 1: and it existed before the Internet. They're smallpox. It's actually 434 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: it's actually a pretty good joke, and I like the 435 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: way Noel read it. And where does this leave us today? 436 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 2: Well, in this article, how all caps came to signify 437 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,880 Speaker 2: shouting as in Trump's see You in Court by Ben 438 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 2: Greno from The Washington Post. Guarna makes a really interesting 439 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 2: point about the evolution of language. He cites a quote 440 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 2: from Richard Stirling, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley. 441 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,120 Speaker 2: He spoke to The New York Times and was talking 442 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 2: about this idea that younger Internet users who've been brought 443 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 2: up with a much more casual attitude towards capitalization and punctuation, 444 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:56,640 Speaker 2: how casual emails often are completely written in lowercase. And 445 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:01,120 Speaker 2: he says, I think in the future capitalization will disappear. 446 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,560 Speaker 2: And he says he doesn't think it's that worrying at all, 447 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 2: because language, as we've talked about in other episodes of 448 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 2: the show, can evolve and should be adaptable. But it's 449 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 2: interesting because there is actually has been sort of a 450 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:20,680 Speaker 2: backlash against the caps lock key the key itself. Do 451 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:22,359 Speaker 2: you know about this, Ben, This is really interesting. 452 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, tell us about it well. 453 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 2: In the New Republic article how capital letters became Internet 454 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 2: code for yelling, the author Alice rob spoke to a 455 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 2: man by the name of Matthew J. X Malady who 456 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,919 Speaker 2: made it his life's work, or at least part of it. 457 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:44,959 Speaker 2: To get rid of the caps lock key entirely, and 458 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 2: he told Slate quote the key is a nuisance, it's 459 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 2: prime real estate, leading us to depress it unintentionally and 460 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 2: often unwinningly. And the article also talks about a man 461 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,879 Speaker 2: named Peter Hinchens who launched a campaign called caps off 462 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 2: in two thousand and six to get the key removed 463 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,199 Speaker 2: from the keyboard entirely. It was not a successful effort 464 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 2: yet yet it is still around. But yeah, you know 465 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 2: you use the shift key. Why do you even need 466 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 2: caps lock? You just to hold down the shift key. 467 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: Hilarious part about the caps off campaign, by the way, 468 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:26,120 Speaker 1: is that their slogan is stop shouting in all caps 469 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: in good riddance. The article by Christopher Beam on Slate. 470 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:37,639 Speaker 1: They also note that Google, when they unveiled their Google 471 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: CR forty eight notebook, made the decision to ditch the 472 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 1: caps lock key. No way, Yeah, they took it out. 473 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: Oh man, you're going to have to hold down shift 474 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: ladies and gentlemen. And if you think about it, if 475 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,320 Speaker 1: you're looking at if you're in the Western world, you're 476 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: probably working with a Querity computer named after the six 477 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: letters at the top left right. Then you can see 478 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: if you look at your keyboard now, if you have 479 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: one that caps like can shift are kind of redundant. 480 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 2: You know, you ever noticed those little braille kind of 481 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 2: hash marks on the F and the J keys on keyboard? 482 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 2: Apparently those are meant to help you find the home 483 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 2: row touch type, you can touch type. I don't do that. 484 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 2: I didn't want to type like that. I just kind 485 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 2: of learned, you know, throw it into the fire and 486 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 2: just kind of figured it all out. I'm a child 487 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 2: of the Internet. This is neat, though, this movement away 488 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,160 Speaker 2: from all caps, and this like seeing it as being 489 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 2: kind of ghost and like poor communication skills. It extends 490 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 2: to government agencies. As it turns out, the National Weather 491 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 2: Service had a history of using all caps and its 492 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 2: weather reports, and that was because the teletype machine that 493 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,680 Speaker 2: had been historically used only communicated in capital letters. But 494 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 2: on April eleventh, the twenty sixteen, the National Weather Service 495 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 2: sent a press release in all caps that said, this 496 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:58,160 Speaker 2: listen up. Beginning on May eleven, Noah's National Weather Service 497 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:00,720 Speaker 2: forecasts will stop yelling at you. 498 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 1: That's great. This is where we're at now. It appears 499 00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: that the reign of all caps may be coming to 500 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 1: a close, as conecticuet evolves. But I argue there's something 501 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: greater at work here, and I want to see what 502 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: you think about this, Noel, because we see these backlashes 503 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: against the language changing English, the language we are speaking in. 504 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: In case anybody was listening and wondering what is this 505 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: strange sound? I understand English is a living language, which 506 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: means that it evolves by consensus. No matter how the 507 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: people at the OED or Oxford English Dictionary labor, ultimately, 508 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: the people who speak the language decide what the language 509 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: means and how it is best represented audibly or in type, 510 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,000 Speaker 1: in some sort of physical form. What we're seeing, despite 511 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:05,080 Speaker 1: the objection of the numerous so called grammar nazis, is 512 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:10,000 Speaker 1: a move away from punctuation, and we're moving toward, or 513 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 1: should I say back toward an idiogrammatic sort of language. 514 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:19,920 Speaker 1: With the rise of one of your favorite things, pal emoji. 515 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:24,640 Speaker 2: I'm a fan. You know. Our coworker Tristan, another super 516 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,320 Speaker 2: producer in the house Stuff Works family, is a big 517 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 2: fan of communicating exclusively using emojis solely, and he only 518 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 2: chose like three, yeah, exactly, but somehow it gets the 519 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 2: idea across the O face emoji is the big one 520 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 2: he likes to use. 521 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: And what we're noting here about the ideographic use of 522 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: emoji is that currently it seems really controversial. As we're 523 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: recording this, just a few years back, pretty recent in 524 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 1: the historical record, someone wrote a novel entirely an emoji, 525 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: which I have not read, so I cannot comment on it. 526 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: But there are a lot of faces in it. Ooh, 527 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 1: there's an eggplant. That might be the racy part here. 528 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 2: There's a movie that's written all in emoji like a script. No, 529 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 2: it's the Emoji Movie. Okay, yes, really sad Casey Pegrim 530 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 2: will cringe at this. But Saudi Arabia recently lifted its 531 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 2: ban on public movie screenings and the first movie that 532 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 2: was available for public screening was the Emoji Movie. 533 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: So emoji are popular, and what strange is that they're 534 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: approaching a universality and ubiquity. They're approaching something like a 535 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: common tongue. You and I don't have to speak Arabic 536 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,440 Speaker 1: in order to understand a smiling face. 537 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 2: It's true. But these sets of emoji graphics that come 538 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,720 Speaker 2: stock on a lot of phones have their roots in Japan, 539 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 2: and so there are a lot of emojis that have 540 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 2: different meanings you know, to the Japanese and they do 541 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 2: to us. And then there are the most more basic 542 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,360 Speaker 2: ones that are just like, you know, a smiling face 543 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 2: or the O face or what have you, that we 544 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 2: can take and understand more universally. But then there are 545 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 2: you know, in these sets that you go real deep in. 546 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 2: They're like foods that maybe we're not super familiar with 547 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 2: or just I can't think of a specific example right now, 548 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:20,600 Speaker 2: can you? Yeah? 549 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: Gestures? And I'm really glad you mentioned this, because while 550 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: it is easier to communicate across languages an emoji, it's 551 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 1: not instant fluency. It's very culturally dependent. So in the 552 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:38,240 Speaker 1: Western world, or let's call it Abramaic religions Judeo Christian values, 553 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: the folded hands like this are seen as representing prayer. 554 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 1: Japanese emoji users will see it as a salutation, and 555 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: younger people from a secular background think about this, think 556 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: it's a high five. Isn't that interesting? 557 00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 2: Interesting? Or it could be just like kind of a 558 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 2: wonder twins unite kind of. I use it as thank you? 559 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 2: Is that the common use in America? 560 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 1: I use it as thank you or an ironic bless 561 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: up nice with a hashtag. So we bring emoji up 562 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 1: just to show that the story of the all capital 563 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:23,120 Speaker 1: shout is one piece of a larger tapestry, a tapestry 564 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: that we as speakers of a language, as writers of 565 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:33,279 Speaker 1: a language, are helping to weave collectively. You're important, You're 566 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: a part of this. If you want the semi colon 567 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: to stay, then by golly, you have to fight for it. 568 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,880 Speaker 1: And if you want, if you want to write entirely 569 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: in emoji, the hieroglyphic of our time, then you have 570 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 1: to fight for that as well. 571 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 2: Because I mean, at the end of the day, communication 572 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,719 Speaker 2: is just about the message, not the medium for the 573 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,879 Speaker 2: most part, right, So whatever works is pretty much fair game, 574 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 2: or at least that's the way it's seen with texting 575 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,720 Speaker 2: and internet communication and all of this stuff that's led 576 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 2: to where we are today. So what is your preferred 577 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 2: method for conveying emphasis in text? Let us know how 578 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,800 Speaker 2: you let your significant other know that you're not grumpy 579 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,040 Speaker 2: when you send them a matter of fact text to 580 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 2: pick up some milk from the store. Because I'm telling 581 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,240 Speaker 2: you it's so funny, like it's I do it myself. 582 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 2: Where someone will just text me okay, period or something, 583 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 2: and I'm like, WHOA, what did I do? You know? 584 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,840 Speaker 2: And it's so unreasonable. You have no inclination that this 585 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:34,200 Speaker 2: person isn't angrier that you've done anything, But it's so 586 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 2: easy to get in your own head about what could 587 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:38,799 Speaker 2: be going on that would lead them to send you 588 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,759 Speaker 2: such a terse text. Please help us, let us know. 589 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,880 Speaker 2: How do you communicate emphasis? How do you communicate levity? 590 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,960 Speaker 2: We want to know. Write us at ridiculous at HowStuffWorks 591 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 2: dot com. You can also hit us up on social 592 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 2: media where we are Ridiculous History on Facebook, Twitter, and 593 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:56,399 Speaker 2: also Instagram. 594 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,000 Speaker 1: You can additionally, while you're on the internet, check out 595 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:04,719 Speaker 1: an excellent key and Peel sketch about the dangers of 596 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: communication via text, similar to the Kids in the Hall 597 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:13,520 Speaker 1: sketch about the guy who doesn't know that he sounds sarcastic. 598 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,880 Speaker 1: Bonus points, friends and neighbors. If you can, in your 599 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 1: email show us the form that you prefer. Don't just 600 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: tell us about it, do the whole thing. If you 601 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:29,040 Speaker 1: send an email that is entirely an emoji, we will 602 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,839 Speaker 1: decipher it. We have top people on the case. 603 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,879 Speaker 2: One of those top people is Jesseln Shields, who wrote 604 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,920 Speaker 2: the article shouty caps are a much older invention than 605 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:41,560 Speaker 2: you think for HowStuffWorks dot Com. So thanks to Jesslin 606 00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:43,839 Speaker 2: for her contributions to this episode, and. 607 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:47,600 Speaker 1: Of course we would also like to thank our super producer, 608 00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:48,759 Speaker 1: Casey Pegger. 609 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 2: And Alex Williams, who wrote our theme. 610 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:54,799 Speaker 1: And most importantly, picture an asterisk around this next word you. 611 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,279 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening so sparkly all of you, and be 612 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 2: sure to join us next time for another episode of 613 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:07,600 Speaker 2: ridiculous History. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 614 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,760 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.