# Avatards **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 5, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161 "2010-10-05T19:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/401 "2010-10-11T21:54:21Z")
yOu MoRoNz ArE iDiOtZ ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/402 "2010-10-11T21:55:36Z")
LOWERCASE LETTERS ARE A LUXURY. THE GREAT WORKS OF PLATO, ARISTOTLE, SOCRATES, AND OTHER RENOWNED GREEK AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHERS WAS COMPOSED IN THE ERA BEFORE LOWERCASE LETTERS WERE ADDED TO THE ALPHABET. ALL-CAPS IS NOT SHOUTING, BUT TEXT IN ITS PUREST FORM, WITH 26 TIMELESS CHARACTERS. SOME MAY SAY THAT LOWERCASE LETTERS, WITH THEIR ASCENDERS AND DESCENDERS, GIVE WORDS A DISTINCTIVE SHAPE, AND MAKE THEM EASIER TO READ, BUT l’VE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM READING LONG BLOCKS OF UPPERCASE TEXT. l SERIOUS DOUBTS ABOUT THE INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY OF THOSE THAT NEED TO DECORATE THEIR POSTS WlTH SUCH FRIVOLITIES AS LOWERCASE LETTERS, OR PUNCTUATION OTHER THAN PERIODS AND COMMAS. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/403 "2010-10-11T21:57:04Z")
Clever. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/404 "2010-10-11T22:38:59Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > LOWERCASE LETTERS ARE A LUXURY. THE GREAT WORKS OF PLATO, ARISTOTLE, SOCRATES, AND OTHER RENOWNED GREEK AND ROMAN PHILOSOPHERS WAS COMPOSED IN THE ERA BEFORE LOWERCASE LETTERS WERE ADDED TO THE ALPHABET. ALL-CAPS IS NOT SHOUTING, BUT TEXT IN ITS PUREST FORM, WITH 26 TIMELESS CHARACTERS. SOME MAY SAY THAT LOWERCASE LETTERS, WITH THEIR ASCENDERS AND DESCENDERS, GIVE WORDS A DISTINCTIVE SHAPE, AND MAKE THEM EASIER TO READ, BUT l’VE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM READING LONG BLOCKS OF UPPERCASE TEXT. l SERIOUS DOUBTS ABOUT THE INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY OF THOSE THAT NEED TO DECORATE THEIR POSTS WlTH SUCH FRIVOLITIES AS LOWERCASE LETTERS, OR PUNCTUATION OTHER THAN PERIODS AND COMMAS. shut up me[COLOR=“Green”]n[/COLOR]tal [COLOR=“DarkOliveGreen”]f[/COLOR]eeb ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/405 "2010-10-11T23:12:15Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > lowercase letters are a luxury. The great works of plato, aristotle, socrates, and other renowned greek and roman philosophers was composed in the era before lowercase letters were added to the alphabet. All-caps is not shouting, but text in its purest form, with 26 timeless characters. Some may say that lowercase letters, with their ascenders and descenders, give words a distinctive shape, and make them easier to read, but l’ve never had any problem reading long blocks of uppercase text. L serious doubts about the intellectual capacity of those that need to decorate their posts wlth such frivolities as lowercase letters, or punctuation other than periods and commas. remember: If people use lowercase letters then people may discuss lowercase letters. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/406 "2010-10-12T00:31:35Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I should make this my signature until we can get avatars: ( . Y . ) You do that, and all those people who have sigs turned off will have to deal with people talking about how awesome your sig is. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/407 "2010-10-12T00:40:22Z")
> [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > > I should make this my signature until we can get avatars: ( . Y . ) > > You do that, and all those people who have sigs turned off will have to deal with people talking about how awesome your sig is. I don’t get it; what’s so awesome about two periods and the capital letter Y enclosed in parentheses? ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/408 "2010-10-12T01:44:21Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > > [@Lord\_Ashtar](#): > > > > You do that, and all those people who have sigs turned off will have to deal with people talking about how awesome your sig is. > > I don’t get it; what’s so awesome about two periods and the capital letter Y enclosed in parentheses? Clearly you need to unleash your inner 12-yr-old boy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/409 "2010-10-12T02:38:10Z")
> [@Peeta\_Mellark](#): > > remember: If people use lowercase letters then people may discuss lowercase letters. ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. GIVE PEOPLE LOWERCASE LETTERS, AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, THEY’LL BE ASKING FOR MORE PUNCTUATION MARKS, ACCENT MARKS AND FOREIGN CHARACTERS IN CONTEXT. SOME DOPERS SEEKING ATTENTION COULD ABUSE UMLAUTS, PLACING THEM WHERE THEY DON’T BELONG, AND THUS DETRACT FROM THE HIGH-LEVEL lNTELLECTUAL DISCOURSE WE NOW ENJOY. GIVE THEM PARENTHESES, AND THEY COULD DISRUPT A THREAD ABOUT POSTMODERN FEMINIST THEORY WITH ASCII BREASTS AND BUTTOCKS. IT’S THE FIRST STEP OFF A SLIPPERY SLOPE EXCLAMATION POINT. EVEN THOUGH I MIGHT BE ABLE TO TURN OFF LOWERCASE LETTERS, PEOPLE WILL STILL BE TALKING ABOUT THEM ALL THE TIME. I WANT TO ENJOY POSTS ABOUT POSTSTRUCTURALISM, NON-EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY, HI OPAL, THE DECONSTRUCTION OF PRE-REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIAN LITERATURE AND SUBCUTANEOUS ACNE WITHOUT HAVING TO READ GRAMMARIANS ARGUE OVER THE CAPITALIZATION OF A WORD THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE A PROPER NOUN. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/410 "2010-10-12T10:12:54Z")
Umlauts should be forbidden. Please do not discuss umlauts, as it draws attention to the existance of umlauts. Ah! I said umlaut! Must self destru ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/411 "2010-10-12T10:42:56Z")
Ẅḧǟẗ’s an umlaut? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/412 "2010-10-12T15:16:44Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > I don’t get it; what’s so awesome about two periods and the capital letter Y enclosed in parentheses? lol boobs > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Ẅḧǟẗ’s an umlaut? Oh sure, first it starts with an umlaut. Next thing you know, Zalgo is all over the forum. And some of us have Zalgo disabled, but we still have to hear the rest of you dripping blood from your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/413 "2010-10-12T19:00:48Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Oh sure, first it starts with an umlaut. Next thing you know, Zalgo is all over the forum. And some of us have Zalgo disabled, but we still have to hear the rest of you dripping blood from your eyes. We can’t let people just disable the blood-dripping-from-eyes feature, because then we still have to listen to PEOPLE LIKE YOU just utterly RUIN the dope by TALKING ABOUT IT ALL THE DAMN TIME. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/414 "2010-10-12T19:03:16Z")
Have you ever noticed that the diacritical marks have the coolest names? Umlaut. Tilde. Caron. Accent grave. Breve. Cedilla. Macron. Ogonek. All the ancillary glyphs (which, by the way, is another term I like). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/415 "2010-10-12T19:35:52Z")
They’re cool-looking, I guess, but it’s not like they actually \*mean \*anything. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/416 "2010-10-12T19:49:36Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Have you ever noticed that the diacritical marks have the coolest names? Umlaut. Tilde. Caron. Accent grave. Breve. Cedilla. Macron. Ogonek. All the ancillary glyphs (which, by the way, is another term I like). I always had a doper crush on you, and now you’re making me swoon. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/417 "2010-10-12T20:57:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Have you ever noticed that the diacritical marks have the coolest names? My cousin once claimed that she was going to have a child and name it Umlaut Haček. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/418 "2010-10-12T21:24:43Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Have you ever noticed that the diacritical marks have the coolest names? Umlaut. Tilde. Caron. Accent grave. Breve. Cedilla. Macron. Ogonek. All the ancillary glyphs (which, by the way, is another term I like). Cool? Sounds like the cast list of a Twillight film. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/419 "2010-10-13T01:28:07Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Cool? Sounds like the cast list of a Twillight film. Ah good, you’re back. I need your opinion. When avatars finally get approved, which do you think I should go with? [This one?](http://oz.deichman.net/uploaded_images/family_simpson_avatars-719113.gif) [This one?](http://www.mitsyavilaovalles.com/uploaded_images/rusty_kuntz-717771.jpg) [Or this one?](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3616/3412801042_efb10276f3.jpg) I mean, which do you think will give me that intellectually sophisticated edge I need while posting here? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161/420 "2010-10-13T02:00:29Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > > > Have you ever noticed that the diacritical marks have the coolest names? Umlaut. Tilde. Caron. Accent grave. Breve. Cedilla. Macron. Ogonek. All the ancillary glyphs (which, by the way, is another term I like). > > I always had a doper crush on you, and now you’re making me swoon. Tee hee. {blushes} > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > > > Have you ever noticed that the diacritical marks have the coolest names? > > My cousin once claimed that she was going to have a child and name it Umlaut Haček. That would be awesome. Maybe for a cat’s name - little kitty Umlaut. Now I want to change my username to Cedilla Breve. And, they also sound like the cast of Lord of the Rings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatards/556161.md?page=22)