Luigi59
Banned
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2007
- Messages
- 4,566
(BTW - real story, not from The Onion)
THE NAVY NOTICE THAT LOWERCASE LETTERS COULD BE USED WAS IRONICALLY ISSUED IN ALL CAPS.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/06/12/navy-to-drop-all-caps-communications/
THE NAVY NOTICE THAT LOWERCASE LETTERS COULD BE USED WAS IRONICALLY ISSUED IN ALL CAPS.
THE U.S. NAVY WILL NO LONGER COMMUNICATE EXCLUSIVELY IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS AND ORDERS HAVE BEEN IN ALL CAPS SINCE 19TH CENTURY.
YOUNG SAILORS ACCUSTOMED TO TEXTING SEE ALL-CAPS ORDERS AS A FORM OF SHOUTING!
NAVY WANTS ITS ORDERS AND OFFICIAL MESSAGES TO BE MORE READABLE AND LESS RUDE.
“WHILE THIS DECISION WAS MADE TO SAVE MONEY AND GAIN EFFICIENCIES, IF AN ANCILLARY BENEFIT IS THAT SAILORS READING MESSAGE TRAFFIC NO LONGER FEEL THEY’RE BEING SCREAMED AT…THAT’S A GOOD THING TOO,” SAID A NAVY OFFICIAL.
OLD BULLS STILL PREFER SHOUTING ORDERS AND SENDING MESSAGES IN ALL CAPS. BUT THE NAVY OFFICIAL DENIES THAT DROPPING OF ALL-CAPS COMMUNICATION IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE SERVICE GOING SOFT.
TRADITION OF ALL-CAPS COMMUNICATION IS A LEGACY OF TELETYPE MACHINES OF 1850S THAT LACKED LOWERCASE LETTERS.
BUT ONLY NOW IS THE NAVY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE REST OF THE WORLD HAS EMBRACED LOWERCASE LETTERS AND THAT AND ALL-CAPS MESSAGES ARE DEEPLY ANNOYING.
“LOWERCASE MESSAGES ARE HERE TO STAY,” JAMES MCCARTY, THE NAVAL MESSAGING PROGRAM MANAGER AT FLEET CYBER COMMAND SAID IN A STATEMENT. OR, RATHER, AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
THE SCOOP WAS FIRST REPORTED BY NAVY TIMES.
MANY ARMY ORDERS ARE STILL ISSUED IN CAPS AND OFFICERS FROM OTHER SERVICES HOPE REST OF PENTAGON WILL FOLLOW THE NAVY’S LEAD.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/06/12/navy-to-drop-all-caps-communications/
Naval messages — from routine GENADMINs (general administration) and MOVREPs (movement report) all the way up to a Flash OPREP, sent to the nation’s leaders during a crisis — are the tidings of the fleet. Changing that age-old format has prompted plenty of feedback. Younger personnel like it because it’s more readable and is similar to an email. But there are holdouts — especially among the old guard who are accustomed to reading their messages only in uppercase.
“You have a lot of folks that have been around for a long time and are used to uppercase and they just prefer that it stay there because of the standardized look of it,” McCarty said. “But the truth of it is, as we move forward, it’s imminent.”