AREA MAN TAKES lOWERCASE l PROBlEM INTO OWN HANDS

August 12, 2009 7:28 AM

AREA MAN TAKES lOWERCASE l PROBlEM INTO OWN HANDS AND INSTAllS OWN CORRECTIVE SIGNAGE
posted by joeclark (59 comments total)

I THINK I WIll lEAVE WEll ENOUGH AlONE
posted by nosila at 7:31 AM on August 12, 2009

I want to know why I shouldn't feed the cat...
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:32 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

AAAAAA!
posted by The Whelk at 7:32 AM on August 12, 2009

...or the animal's H.O.A.
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:32 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

From the "About" page, posted on Sunday, July 03, 2005:

"Thank you all ... NOW LET'S BlOG!"

First post: Wednesday, August 12, 2009.
posted by hermitosis at 7:33 AM on August 12, 2009

I DON'T GET WHY PEOPlE DO THIS AT All. I MEAN, IT lOOKS lIKE THE "l"s ARE IS.
posted by LSK at 7:34 AM on August 12, 2009

Oh, my mistake -- older entries was 404'ing for me, so I thought it was a one trick pony. lOl.
posted by hermitosis at 7:35 AM on August 12, 2009

CPAS LOCK DAY FWT
posted by joeclark at 7:36 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

THIS SHOULD GO WELL

NO, UR DOING IT WRONG.

THIS WILL WENDEll.
posted by splice at 7:37 AM on August 12, 2009

don't poLLute: pLease dump aLL your extra Ls here!
posted by DU at 7:37 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

ill.
posted by Kiwi at 7:38 AM on August 12, 2009

I have never seen this during my travels around the Commonwealth.
posted by chrismear at 7:39 AM on August 12, 2009

Today I tried to go to an Arlen Specter townhall but got there too late to get in. Lots of great signage, including a woman holding a "Welome Benidict Arlen" sign - I asked what "Welome" meant and she told me to shut up.
posted by billysumday at 7:40 AM on August 12, 2009 [29 favorites]

I have to admit, that is the most specific blog I've seen in some time. He's got the "people who are annoyed by inconsistent capitalization in the written word 'PlEASE'" market cornered.
posted by thebergfather at 7:40 AM on August 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

If I've ever seen this practice, it's not been enough to notice it, let alone be bothered by it. It's a good thing the internet is here to show me something new to be irritated by!
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:41 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

I've never noticed this, and I'm even one of the smug jerks from the earlier thread on a related subject. I'll have to keep an l out for this.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:43 AM on August 12, 2009

Unemployment at 10%, huh?
posted by dirigibleman at 7:43 AM on August 12, 2009 [3 favorites]

One of the things I love about the internet is that every time I think I'm possibly too hung up on abuse/misuse of punctuation, mangled grammar, or careless spelling, something comes along that demonstrates that I really haven't slid that far down the spiral of language pedantry. It makes me a feel a little bit better about myself.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:44 AM on August 12, 2009

Today I tried to go to an Arlen Specter townhall but got there too late to get in. Lots of great signage, including a woman holding a "Welome Benidict Arlen" sign - I asked what "Welome" meant and she told me to shut up.

I lOled.
posted by dammitjim at 7:45 AM on August 12, 2009

Stephanie: THERE'S SOMETHING I HAVE TO SAY...
Mike: Please do.
Stephanie: NO, I'M TOO SHY!
Mike: Just say it; rip it off like a band-aid!
Stephanie: I...
Mike: ......
Stephanie: "l WORD" YOU!
Mike: ...Idolize?
Stephanie: NO.
Mike: Inspire?
Stephanie: NO! THE "l WORD!"
Mike: ...Iditarod? I have no idea what you mean.
Stephanie: YOU'RE A JERK!
Mike: Does this have something to do with Imogen Heap?
*Stephanie signed off*
posted by Christ, what an asshole at 7:46 AM on August 12, 2009 [9 favorites]

THIS WIll CATCHPHRASE
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:47 AM on August 12, 2009

I really haven't slid that far down the spiral of language pedantry.

You can't slide down a spiral; a spiral is a two-dimensional curve. Perhaps you're thinking of a helix?
posted by chrismear at 7:47 AM on August 12, 2009 [41 favorites]

Cafetorium!
posted by geos at 7:47 AM on August 12, 2009

Perhaps you're thinking of a helix?

More like I was thinking of Nine Inch Nails. Damn the '90s and their impact on my psyche.
posted by EvaDestruction at 7:56 AM on August 12, 2009

Is it possible he's photoshopping these pictures to make properly-capitalized signs look wrong? Might there be a chance that he's so aggrieved by this one, small flaw in humanity that it has taken over rationality, forcing him to forge crises where none really exist, and to endlessly fuel both his all-consuming sense of outrage and momentary moral triumphs by pointing at photographs of nonexistent things to cry, "There! That is the problem!" And then, later, to feel his muscles begin to tense, his mind begin to burn again, to know that somewhere somebody has miscapitalized a letter and it passes, unseen by him. It is a horrible, terrible thing, but at least he's not complaining about birth certificates.
posted by ardgedee at 8:03 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

\O/ lOl \O/
posted by CynicalKnight at 8:17 AM on August 12, 2009

Dude just doesn't want you to feed his cat. Back off, man.
posted by gordie at 8:18 AM on August 12, 2009

His CAT's
You missed the fine print.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:33 AM on August 12, 2009

Unlike "wrong" quotation marks and there incorrect usages over their, I've never seen lower-case L issue in the wild before and am wondering if this is something I'll notice now that I know there's a blog about it.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:39 AM on August 12, 2009

This made me i.o.i.
posted by grubi at 8:42 AM on August 12, 2009

I say we mob these sign makers.
posted by orme at 8:52 AM on August 12, 2009

Irregardless...
posted by fluffycreature at 8:52 AM on August 12, 2009

I don't know what's sadder: Being so undone by other people's writing styles on homemade cardboard lawn signs that you need to make your own sign pointing out their transgressions; or making a blog about it.
...or commenting on a MeFi post about said blog...
posted by rocket88 at 8:55 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

The thing that gets me is that the capital L is a very satisfying letter to write. You start at the top with a straight and steady vertical line, and then just when you've reached the bottom—BAM!—zippy little horizontal dash to the right, and you're done! What could be more fun?

Next to the capital V, it's the closest thing there is to a check mark (or "tick" for our UK friends) in the alphabet—and everybody likes drawing check marks.
✓
✓
✓
(Man, that felt good!)

Compared to that, writing a lowercase L is sort of like kissing your sister.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:58 AM on August 12, 2009 [11 favorites]

OCD MUCH?
posted by HuronBob at 9:03 AM on August 12, 2009

"...zippy little horizontal dash to the right, and you're done! What could be more fun?"

well.. I prefer... "....just a jump to the left
And then a step to the right"
posted by HuronBob at 9:06 AM on August 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

Compared to that, writing a lowercase L is sort of like kissing your sister.

I didn't think she made it to the 10-th anniversary meetup. Wevs, man, she's an adult.
posted by everichon at 9:07 AM on August 12, 2009

That hyphen in "10-th" is gonna haunt me all day. Motherfuck.
posted by everichon at 9:08 AM on August 12, 2009

The Internet, last refuge of the anal retentive.
posted by tommasz at 9:11 AM on August 12, 2009

Compared to that, writing a lowercase L is sort of like kissing your sister.

But the sign was in AlABAMA.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:16 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is why I write all my signs in copperplate.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:00 AM on August 12, 2009

Huh?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:44 AM on August 12, 2009

Fascinating. I tend to overcompensate, and am the type of person likely to place a capital "L' right in the middle of some other lowercase letters, just so there's no misunderstanding. To put a little "L" in a field of capitals...I can't even fathom it.
posted by redsparkler at 10:46 AM on August 12, 2009

Why would people do this?!!? How can someone write this way?!?!?
posted by redsparkler at 10:49 AM on August 12, 2009

I have to confess, when my wife makes signs, she mixes upper and lower case letters at will (there's probably a pattern, but I try not to look at her signs long enough to figure it out). Drives me nuts, but 24 years of marriage has taught me to keep my mouth shut.
posted by tippiedog at 10:54 AM on August 12, 2009

I'm more concerned that the animals formed their very own homeowners association. I can't imagine what the monthly fees are like.
posted by mathowie at 11:01 AM on August 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

TlDR
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 11:08 AM on August 12, 2009

I think people do word things wrong.
posted by Mister_A at 11:14 AM on August 12, 2009

WHY ARE YOU YEllING AT ME?
posted by JMOZ at 11:19 AM on August 12, 2009

I try not to look at her signs long enough to figure it out.

So. Your wife makes lots of signs but you won't look at them. One a' these days she's gonna write a book, you know.
posted by longsleeves at 11:55 AM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

DOUBlE.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:21 PM on August 12, 2009

You can't slide down a spiral; a spiral is a two-dimensional curve. Perhaps you're thinking of a helix?

spiral, n. def. 1b: "a three-dimensional curve (as a helix) with one or more turns about an axis."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:33 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

lOllY lOllY lOllY GET YOUR ADVERBS HERE.
posted by NemesisVex at 12:53 PM on August 12, 2009

What really got me was this "Just For You" card posted on that lowercasel blogspot. I'm sure there's a story here.
posted by mek at 1:47 PM on August 12, 2009

For someone who is usually terribly finicky about language, I am so guilty of writing in a random mixture of capital and lower case letters. I blame the fact that "writing by hand" is something I almost never do. I also forget how to make certain letters sometimes. Capital G, for some reason, is one I often freeze up on.
posted by rusty at 2:02 PM on August 12, 2009

I have to communicate by email and clients concerning artwork all the time. I hate typing "Illustrator because whatever font it that my mail program defaults to makes the capitol I look like a small l because it doesn't have bars at the top and the bottom.

What URL should I choose for my blog?
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:39 PM on August 12, 2009

What URL URI should I choose for my blog?
posted by shoesfullofdust at 8:01 PM on August 12, 2009

IF THE CHINESE CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR LATE WE CAN CELEBRATE CAPS LOCK DAY EARLY
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:13 AM on August 13, 2009

If you like this, you may also like passive-aggressive notes or the blog of unnessary quotation marks.
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:44 AM on August 13, 2009