random Capitalization of things that Are Not proper Nouns

[Anonymous]

Such as in the subject line above.

Why do people do this? I was reading high chair reviews on Babies R Us and came across this one:

"It's nice to know food cant get caught anywhere To Sour & Mold. It comes with Two Trays so I keep one in the Dishwasher. My little one loves it also. .. Big Sis Rolls Her Thru The House & She Can See All Around. The only negatives I have are that Some Foods leave faint stains on the Plastic & Seat Cover."

It cracks me up and drives me crazy all at the same time, especially the line about Big Sis, and To Sour & Mold.

But really, I don't get it. What is it about some words that compel people to hit the shift key?

Yeah, and I know I'm petty and there are more important things in life to worry about, blah blah blah.

[Anonymous]

Then you will love DCUM, as it is a tremendous source for irritating spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization.

As for the, "I know I'm petty," caveat, I am personally so sick and tired of people responding to any trival post with, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Yes, I do have better things to do. I am doing them all day long. And then I take breaks and point out people's bad grammar and spelling. That relaxes me and gives me the strength to go back to the big, important things I do all day to make the world a better place.

[Anonymous]

I've noticed this before a message boards (not here). I suspected it had something to do with the poster's computer--auto correct or something gone awry.

[Anonymous]

It's trivial, not trival. Good one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then you will love DCUM, as it is a tremendous source for irritating spelling, grammar, punctuation and capitalization.

As for the, "I know I'm petty," caveat, I am personally so sick and tired of people responding to any trival post with, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Yes, I do have better things to do. I am doing them all day long. And then I take breaks and point out people's bad grammar and spelling. That relaxes me and gives me the strength to go back to the big, important things I do all day to make the world a better place.

Tee hee.

The weird capitalization phenomenon doesn't bother me as much in internet posts, but it (along with the weird apostrophe usage) drives me crazy in commercial advertisements and print. Seriously, people get paid to do this for a living, and they can't figure out when to capitalize and when not to?

[Anonymous]

The posts pointing out the mistakes are hilarious because they almost always have a mistake of their own. So why bother?

[Anonymous]

I have a cousin who capitalizes random things when he writes/types. It's very strange - no clue why.

Must say, however, that I recently started learning German and what is curious is that all nouns are capitalized. I'm guessing most of the people on DCUM won't have this as an excuse, but perhaps a few might....

[Anonymous]

Some languages (German for one) have different capitalization rules than English. I can't remember the rule, though. Someone will chime in with it. I'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with the BRU review you posted, though. That's just idiotic.

As for 13:12, a typo is not a sign of idiocy. We grammar-fiends look a little deeper than that.

13:04, don't forget about the strange use of "quotation" marks! http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/

[Anonymous]

I love hating people who don't know when to use "literally".


"I literally killed her when she told me that."

"I am so hungry I could literally eat a whole cow."

"Her husband is literally as big as this house."

"When he broke up with me, I literally died."

[Anonymous]

I literally LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that kind of lunacy. My guess, though, is that it has something to do with a computer editing program that spews this stuff out.

[Anonymous]

Mine peeve of the week is when someone qualifies "unique".

"It was a very unique ceremony."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I literally killed her when she told me that."

Well, that one's true.

[Anonymous]

The posts pointing out the mistakes are hilarious because they almost always have a mistake of their own. So why bother?

OP here. We're talking about other people's failings here, not our own. Get with the program.

I also love to hate the misused apostrophes and quotation marks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love hating people who don't know when to use "literally".


"I literally killed her when she told me that."

"I am so hungry I could literally eat a whole cow."

"Her husband is literally as big as this house."

"When he broke up with me, I literally died."

This KILLS me! Literally! j/k

There was a great episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where Debora freaked out on Ray because he said he "literally jumped out of his skin" and she said, "if you LITERALLY did, you would be dead! Idiot." Loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine peeve of the week is when someone qualifies "unique".

"It was a very unique ceremony."

I heard someone saying someone's face was "very singular". Huh?