# Why do people randomly capitalise words? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573 "2006-01-25T17:37:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/1 "2006-01-25T17:37:06Z")
I am not really sure how to describe this, but many people have this infuriating (to my grammar nazi self anyway) way of capitalising random words they write. For example they might write “My name is John. I live in a Large house in Rosewater. I have a Dog and a budgie. I used to have a Sister too but my dog Ate her. I like cookies.” I have to ask… WHY? Why must you capitalise those words? What is so special about them? Is your house so large it needs to be referred to as “Large”? Is a “Dog” actually a code name for a live-in cleaner from a cannibal tribe of South America? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/2 "2006-01-25T18:21:59Z")
I Like cookies too. But My dog doesn’t. I lied I don’t Have a dog. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/3 "2006-01-25T18:23:25Z")
Oops. Submit too fast… When I read that I think that the writer is asking for emphasis on that word. As if you’d normally underline, or bold it, but they just capitalize it. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/4 "2006-01-25T18:26:23Z")
Well, since you’re asking for humble opinions on this intriguing topic, mine would be that, depending on circumstance, such capitalizations can come from: 1. rank ignorance 2. deliberate messing with your mind 3. a desire to _emphasize_ certain words without going to any more trouble than the barest minimum, foregoing such things as **bolding** or _italicizing_ or even _using asterisks_ to set off those “important” words 4. the desire to emulate old English or even German where some words are capitalized out of adherence to some older rules 5. bad typing skills 6. dyslexia 7. psychosis 8. sexual perversion 9. excessive zeal brought on by sitting too near a TV set There may be other reasons, too. One could go mad trying to find such answers. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/5 "2006-01-25T18:39:43Z")
I’ve wondered that too. I think 1) rank ingnorance is probably the best answer. Those people areusually the Same ones who put apostrophes in the wrong place’s. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/6 "2006-01-25T18:40:54Z")
> [@bonobo\_jones](#): > > I’ve wondered that too. I think 1) rank ingnorance is probably the best answer. Those people areusually the Same ones who put apostrophes in the wrong place’s. Or who Forget to use the space bar. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/7 "2006-01-25T18:45:22Z")
Oops. Submit too fast… When I read that I think that the writer is asking for emphasis on that word. As if you’d normally underline, or bold it, but they just capitalize it. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/8 "2006-01-25T18:46:39Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > Oops. Submit too fast… > > When I read that I think that the writer is asking for emphasis on that word. As if you’d normally underline, or bold it, but they just capitalize it. Or double post. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/9 "2006-01-25T18:51:51Z")
> [@Mr Bus Guy](#): > > Oops. Submit too fast… Penis _Ensues_. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/10 "2006-01-25T18:55:10Z")
It was very popular in 1920s fiction. When I see it now, it makes me think of Jeeves and Wooster: “What you did was a Very Good Thing, Jeeves my Old Chum. Now we shall take The Charabanc back to the Manor House.” ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/11 "2006-01-25T19:01:12Z")
I hAve nO idEa whaT yoU’re TalKing aboUt. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/12 "2006-01-25T19:04:08Z")
Ah, 1920’s “Death Fiction.” ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/13 "2006-01-25T19:22:33Z")
I do this when I follow the mode of Victorian writers. For example, some of them wanted to discuss via their novels, Truth and Love. Meaning, the concepts of truth and love. It is a way of emphasizing and also underscoring a more subtle meaning in certain words. Another example: drunk college students late at noc in dorms often talk bout Life. And, there is rank ignorance, as said above. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/14 "2006-01-25T19:29:48Z")
We had a programmer where I work who habitually capitalized the first letter of random words. I couldn’t find any pattern to it; nouns, pronouns, verbs . . . they were all fair game. I told him specifically to capitalize only the first letter of the first first word in a sentence, not to even worry about proper nouns (I didn’t want to confuse him). And he’d _still_ do it. I honestly think it was some sort of dysleksia-type thing, that the difference betwen upper case and lower case was a mystery to him. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/15 "2006-01-25T19:55:44Z")
I think they do it because they hate me. Seriously. I work for a newspaper and I see this way more often than I care to admit because it pains me that people can be so stupid. Most of the time people do it for emphasis, and most of the time it isn’t needed. For example, if someone is advertising an open house baby shower, they’ll write Open House Baby Shower. None of these words need to be, or should be, capitalized, IMO. Quotations are just as bad. People who like to over-use quotations would write: “open house” baby shower, or even better, “Open House” Baby Shower. That’s just great. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/16 "2006-01-25T19:59:19Z")
> [@yellowval](#): > > Quotations are just as bad. People who like to over-use quotations would write: “open house” baby shower, or even better, “Open House” Baby Shower. That’s just great. I love it when people put notices up like: “Free” gift with every purchase. And I’m all like :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/17 "2006-01-25T20:08:17Z")
I always found that normal military jargon has very weird “rules” about capital letters. After years of military indoctrination I found it a difficult habit to break. Add to that years of writing police reports in all capital block letters. All the reports are on computer now so I don’t have to do that any more. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/18 "2006-01-25T20:33:20Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I love it when people put notices up like: > > “Free” gift with every purchase. > > And I’m all like :dubious: That is a good one. Makes you wonder what the catch is, doesn’t it? I guess the catch is that it’s “free,” not just free, because you have to purchase something to get it. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/19 "2006-01-25T20:49:17Z")
It’s not an unusual style of emphasis in a software context. Hacks aren’t bad and wrong; rather they’re Bad and Wrong (the opposite of Right and Good). There are only a few common phrases, and they’re all rather specific, so it seems unlikely that those are what you’re using. Personally, I use capitalization and asterisks to denote differences in the way I would speak something. If I say that something is a Very Good Thing, read that section with a strong emphasis on the words and pauses in between them. If I say that it’s a _very good thing_, read that with strong emphasis on the words but at a normal speed. If I say that it’s a _very good thing_, read that as above but with a less strong emphasis. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573/20 "2006-01-25T21:03:47Z")
I am guilty of this. When I write software I will capitalize the variables in ways that I hope make my code more readable. Many people prefer underscores or small variable names. I would write SectionNumber. Someone else might write section\_number. Someone else my write sn. I hate the underscores primarily because it is one of the keys I have trouble touch-typing. Anyway, I often find that I do it when I’m writing other things - even though there is now a space in between section and number, the habit is ingrained. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-randomly-capitalise-words/341573.md?page=2)