# Tablets, Capsules, and... Caplets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2002, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142 "2002-08-16T03:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/1 "2002-08-16T03:08:03Z")
Okay, I was sifting through a newspaper ad, and they were advertising all these pills for different ailments (from garlic as an antibiotic to calcium and magnesium, plus some stranger things). Anyway, they offer some as tablets (I understand that… like the cake-shaped Tylenol), capsules (most antibiotics), softgels (obvious), and another… Caplets. I can guess the obvious that it’s a cross between a capsule and a tablet, but… how? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/2 "2002-08-16T03:55:35Z")
Most caplets are just football-shaped tablets. Many people seem to find the shape easier to swallow, others prefer it for dietary or religious reasons. (Capsules are gelatin, gelatin is an animal product, and not usually kosher.) ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/3 "2002-08-16T07:14:23Z")
My bottle of Aleve defines caplet as a “capsule shaped tablet”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/4 "2002-08-16T07:36:23Z")
The OP mentions _pills_, which by strict definition would be spherical, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/5 "2002-08-16T07:41:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*The OP mentions _pills_, which by strict definition would be spherical, I believe. \*\* What makes you think that? 1. A small pellet or tablet of medicine, often coated, taken by swallowing whole or by chewing. 2. _Informal_. An oral contraceptive. Used with the. 3. _Slang_. Something, such as a baseball, that resembles a pellet of medicine. 4. Something both distasteful and necessary. 5. _Slang_. An insipid or ill-natured person. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/6 "2002-08-16T09:38:36Z")
OK; the definition has probably drifted, but originally, pills were rolled up, whereas tablets were pressed or stamped out. I’ll try to find a cite for that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/7 "2002-08-16T09:47:23Z")
Ah m-w is a bit more helpful: Main Entry: pill Function: noun Etymology: Middle English pylle, from Middle Dutch pille, ultimately from Latin pilula, **from diminutive of pila ball** Date: 14th century 1 a : medicine in a small rounded mass to be swallowed whole b often capitalized : an oral contraceptive – usually used with the 2 : something repugnant or unpleasant that must be accepted or endured 3 : something resembling a pill in size or shape 4 : a disagreeable or tiresome person ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/8 "2002-08-16T13:07:55Z")
That #3 is interesting. I’m surpirsed that you can define a pill as something that resembles a pill. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/9 "2002-08-16T14:10:40Z")
I think that would be referring to things like those little bobbles that develop on woolen garments (i.e. ‘pill-shaped’) ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/10 "2002-08-16T14:43:13Z")
I merely used the word pill because I didn’t really feel like saying “oral medication”, and because none of the labels in the ad used the word, so it avoided confusion. 🙂 Thanks for the answers, guys! ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/11 "2002-08-17T05:58:43Z")
Do they still _make_ capsules? I haven’t seen those in 20 years (since the Tylenol Incident). As far as I knew, they were replaced by “caplets” (capsule-shaped tablets) and also by something called “gelcaps”. I always found the capsules, and then the caplets and gelcaps, easier to swallow than the tablets. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/12 "2002-08-17T07:34:51Z")
sure they still use capsules. Benedryl has 'em, and they’re ‘cap-sealed’ or something insipid. caplets are, as **postcards** and **Dragonblink** pointed out, simply capsule-shaped tablets. jb ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/13 "2002-08-17T11:38:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey P \* > \*\*That #3 is interesting. I’m surpirsed that you can define a pill as something that resembles a pill. \*\* So a pillbug _is_ a pill? ---
**Author:** ![MattTheCroc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MattTheCroc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattTheCroc)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/14 "2002-08-18T04:00:23Z")
So what’s with the “tabsules” I now see? At least we can rest assured that there’s nowhere to go from here without actually inventing a new name… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/15 "2002-08-18T04:09:47Z")
Unless, of course, you get ill from reading too much Shakespeare for school the night before the big exam. In that case, you need to take two capulets and go to bed, preferably with a Montague. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/16 "2002-08-18T04:14:13Z")
Does Tylenol still come in “pill” form? I only see caplets. Caplets seem to swallow better, in my opinion. Anybody remember Tylenol pills, before pills were coated? they stuck in your throat for about an hour before they went down. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/17 "2002-08-18T05:37:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kat \* > **Do they still _make_ capsules? …** It’s really surprising to me to see someone say this. Of _course_ they still make capsules. In many sizes and colors. They’re not the least bit obsolete and AFAIK in no danger of becoming so. I swallow a number of them every day. Apparently you’re been fortunate enough that you haven’t required many prescription medications. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/18 "2002-08-18T05:50:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kat \* > **Do they still _make_ capsules? …** It’s really surprising to me to see someone say this. Of _course_ they still make capsules. In many sizes and colors. They’re not the least bit obsolete and AFAIK in no danger of becoming so. I swallow a number of them every day. Apparently you’re been fortunate enough that you haven’t required many prescription medications. ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tablets-capsules-and-caplets/124142/19 "2002-08-18T07:36:33Z")
I always just assumed that tablets referred to normal pills, the ones that dissolve in your mouth before you even begin to swallow, and leave that horrible taste. Caplets (to me, at least), are tablets that are coated in gelatin, making them easier to swallow, and most importantly, keeping the taste in.