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> Remember how people used to write N.A.T.O. decades ago but then simplified to NATO? Now they’re simplifying to Nato. I wouldn't call it "simplifying": capita
by ardy42 6y ago
> Remember how people used to write N.A.T.O. decades ago but then simplified to NATO? Now they’re simplifying to Nato.
I wouldn't call it "simplifying": capitalizing it has the same number of characters and is less ambiguous. I was already somewhat aware of BBC's style, but I still mis-parsed the headline and and thought "Nato" was the name or nickname of a natural person.
- chrisseaton 6y agoI don't understand - do you expect everything that isn't the name of a natural person to be written in all caps? If I write an article about how 'France is having a heatwave' do you get confused and think 'France' must be referring to a natural person?
- jannyfer 6y agoIn the article you linked: "We retain the middle cap in YouTube and MySpace because we think it prevents readers being confused by a word they are used to seeing in a particular way." I'm used to seeing NATO, and thought Nato might have been a political figure I hadn't heard of.
- wutwutwutwut 6y agoAfter reading this article you weren't sure what Nato was referring to? And thought maybe it was a political figure? Sorry, I can't believe that.
- ardy42 6y ago> After reading this article you weren't sure what Nato was referring to? And thought maybe it was a political figure? Sorry, I can't believe that. At least for me, the confusion was cleared up immediately after looking at the article, but that doesn't mean this style of headline isn't any less confusing. After all, lots of places (like HN) only display the headline.
- sarbaz 6y agoIt's just that a name is a case-sensitive string. If you said 'france is having a heatwave', 'FrAnCE is having a heatwave', or 'FRANCE is having a heatwave', I would be confused.