3 ms·

It's called title case and for as far as I'm aware this is a uniquely American thing.

lazide 1y ago
It’s from newspaper headlines - using lower case starts to words looks really weird when the word is an inch plus tall on the paper.
- throw-the-towel 1y ago
  That's just because you're not used to that, many European languages don't have title case and newspapers still look perfectly okay.
  - alephnan 1y ago
    So UI designers prioritize form over function as always
  - lazide 1y ago
    Eh, spent plenty of time outside the US. It always looks a little odd when that isn’t followed [https://www.pinterest.com/widget34/french-signs/ https://www.pinterest.com/widget34/french-signs/] [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Spain https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Spain] After all, which is clearer and easier to read - aeropuerto (road sign in spain) [https://images.app.goo.gl/iRcmkxvYX3hxLG59A https://images.app.goo.gl/iRcmkxvYX3hxLG59A] or Aeropuerto (road sign in Chile) [https://images.app.goo.gl/xcME6HEb4r1AnGS16 https://images.app.goo.gl/xcME6HEb4r1AnGS16]. Even more fun when for instance Spain doesn’t follow that consistently![https://images.app.goo.gl/P7cpegHC2unMsfJy7 https://images.app.goo.gl/P7cpegHC2unMsfJy7]. Talk about a typesetters nightmare. Still, better than India where a lot of signage is still done by hand.
    - jaoane 1y ago
      The last two images you linked to are fake, and clearly designed by someone who doesn’t know Spanish and has never been to either Chile or Spain. No signs look like that in either country. Nobody would dare capitalise “de” in Santiago de Chile for instance.
      - thih9 1y ago
        Confirming, the image linked by grandparent is tagged as 3d illustration on shutterstock[1]. A similar illustration with lowercase “de” spelling exists too[2]. Actual road signs in Chile have lowercase “de”[3]. [1]: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-chile-airport-highway-road-sign-315216386 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-chi... [2]: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-de-chile-highway-road-sign-260156072 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-de-... [3]: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CARRETERA_COSTERA_HUASCO_CALDERA_III_REGION_CHILE_-_panoramio.jpg#mw-jump-to-license https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CARRETERA_COSTERA_...
    - elcapitan 1y ago
      > After all, which is clearer and easier to read Clear and easy to read is the one that you expect to read, which depends on your previous experience.
      - suddenlybananas 1y ago
        It's like when Americans insist that fahrenheit is more "intuitive" since it's what they have experience with.
        nkrisc 1y ago
        Well the one thing I do like about Fahrenheit is that it puts the average range of temperatures I experience on nice and tidy 0-100 scale.
        thih9 1y ago
        I could say the same about Celsius as a person who enjoys tea, hot showers and looking at CPU temperature every now and then.
    - debugnik 1y ago
      Your last two links are fake. And you can check on your own Wikipedia link that for Spain's direction signs, only proper nouns are capitalized: full uppercase on conventional roads for historical reasons, otherwise the usual capitalization rules such as on highways or town roads. Whereas full lowercase is reserved for service directions (e.g. service road, airport, hospital, beach). The exceptional capitalized service directions are really old town signs.
k__ 1y ago
German capitalizes all nouns, not just then proper ones, so missing title case doesn't change much.
- rantallion 1y ago
  But surely it'll help in this case, where an article is being published in English and being shared on an English language forum.
  - k__ 1y ago
    Fair.

It’s from newspaper headlines - using lower case starts to words looks really weird when the word is an inch plus tall on the paper.

throw-the-towel 1y ago
That's just because you're not used to that, many European languages don't have title case and newspapers still look perfectly okay.
- alephnan 1y ago
  So UI designers prioritize form over function as always
- lazide 1y ago
  Eh, spent plenty of time outside the US. It always looks a little odd when that isn’t followed [https://www.pinterest.com/widget34/french-signs/ https://www.pinterest.com/widget34/french-signs/] [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Spain https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Spain] After all, which is clearer and easier to read - aeropuerto (road sign in spain) [https://images.app.goo.gl/iRcmkxvYX3hxLG59A https://images.app.goo.gl/iRcmkxvYX3hxLG59A] or Aeropuerto (road sign in Chile) [https://images.app.goo.gl/xcME6HEb4r1AnGS16 https://images.app.goo.gl/xcME6HEb4r1AnGS16]. Even more fun when for instance Spain doesn’t follow that consistently![https://images.app.goo.gl/P7cpegHC2unMsfJy7 https://images.app.goo.gl/P7cpegHC2unMsfJy7]. Talk about a typesetters nightmare. Still, better than India where a lot of signage is still done by hand.
  - jaoane 1y ago
    The last two images you linked to are fake, and clearly designed by someone who doesn’t know Spanish and has never been to either Chile or Spain. No signs look like that in either country. Nobody would dare capitalise “de” in Santiago de Chile for instance.
    - thih9 1y ago
      Confirming, the image linked by grandparent is tagged as 3d illustration on shutterstock[1]. A similar illustration with lowercase “de” spelling exists too[2]. Actual road signs in Chile have lowercase “de”[3]. [1]: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-chile-airport-highway-road-sign-315216386 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-chi... [2]: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-de-chile-highway-road-sign-260156072 https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/santiago-de-... [3]: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CARRETERA_COSTERA_HUASCO_CALDERA_III_REGION_CHILE_-_panoramio.jpg#mw-jump-to-license https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CARRETERA_COSTERA_...
  - elcapitan 1y ago
    > After all, which is clearer and easier to read Clear and easy to read is the one that you expect to read, which depends on your previous experience.
    - suddenlybananas 1y ago
      It's like when Americans insist that fahrenheit is more "intuitive" since it's what they have experience with.
      - nkrisc 1y ago
        Well the one thing I do like about Fahrenheit is that it puts the average range of temperatures I experience on nice and tidy 0-100 scale.
        thih9 1y ago
        I could say the same about Celsius as a person who enjoys tea, hot showers and looking at CPU temperature every now and then.
  - debugnik 1y ago
    Your last two links are fake. And you can check on your own Wikipedia link that for Spain's direction signs, only proper nouns are capitalized: full uppercase on conventional roads for historical reasons, otherwise the usual capitalization rules such as on highways or town roads. Whereas full lowercase is reserved for service directions (e.g. service road, airport, hospital, beach). The exceptional capitalized service directions are really old town signs.

k__ 1y ago

German capitalizes all nouns, not just then proper ones, so missing title case doesn't change much.

rantallion 1y ago
But surely it'll help in this case, where an article is being published in English and being shared on an English language forum.
- k__ 1y ago
  Fair.