A New Zealand woman has lost her accounting job after sending "confrontational" e-mails filled with block capitals. So why is it taboo to hit the caps-lock key?


"TO ENSURE YOUR STAFF CLAIM IS PROCESSED AND PAID, PLEASE DO FOLLOW THE BELOW CHECK LIST."
The actual words may seem harmless enough, but their appearance ultimately contributed to the firing of ProCare Health worker Vicki Walker in Auckland.

It was one of a number of e-mails that her employer claimed, at a tribunal, had spread disharmony at work. Some also "provocatively" contained highlighted phrases in bold or red, the tribunal heard.

Most web users know capital letters are a capital offence - they're commonly thought to be online shorthand for screaming. But how did they get this reputation?

Historically, capped letters portrayed a certain formality, says Paul Luna, director of the department of typography and graphic communication at the University of Reading.

"They're associated with things like Roman inscriptions and the formal presentation of text," he says. "They have a certain sort of architectural quality."

The forum in ancient Rome, for instance, showcased the emperors' great deeds written in capital letters.

'Make page grey'

While capitals were reserved for the best and the greatest, lowercase letters in the Latin alphabet - which English is based on - developed as a faster way to write, says Mr Luna.

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