Why do users italicize?

This is the correct way to place emphasis instead of doing THIS.

I italicize quotes from the Asker or another jelly I am addressing.

I sometimes italicize whispers.

I use it in places where, if I were speaking, my voice would swing up a bit and get a little more forceful. I’m hoping that as the reader reads those words, their mental voice will supply that same inflection and make my meaning clearer.

It’s the proper way to show a citation or an inflection and emphasis. I use bold if I want to be more forceful.

Using ALL CAPS is just plain rude.

Because we are looking at written words, instead of hearing spoken words. Sometimes the italics are used to change the tone or inflection of the “voice” or to add emphasis. Because sometimes the written word can mean more than one thing and it’s harder to figure out the meaning of a word if you can’t hear it.

From the perspective of getting the message cross, Italics changes the font, which slows the reader down and requires her to apply more mental effort. This extra effort improves retention. The use of CAPS or bold draws the eye to those words out of context, so that the reader may pick them up if only skimming.

I sometimes use CAPS to call out something that might be the opposite of what the reader might be expecting.

I also sometimes use caps JUST TO BE ANNOYING.

Sometimes I do it if I suspect others will misinterpret my sentence – it’s a way of drawing attention to the important bits. Best used in moderation, though.

And yeah, CAPS ARE VERY ANNOYING.

BOLD CAPS ARE EVEN WORSE

What a bizarre question this is.

You can also use it in an incorrect way.

@JilltheTooth Sorry I just don’t see how changing the aesthetic of a word strengthens an argument, fact and etc. I get that it “stresses” a word, but I guess for me, I get what was said the first time around. Plus taking Journalism made me a rules junky and was just curious as to what everyone thought, great answers all! Anyways, I love them in poetry.

Uh, @auhsojsa, I was just making a little joke about stressing a word. There was no criticism meant, or even implied.

Spain is famous for its paella, Italy though, for its pasta.

When speaking we naturally stress different words depending on what we want to say. The same words can mean different things depending on how we say the words. With text on the internet a lot of that subtlety is lost and it is sometime difficult to get across what you mean. The italics and bold are techniques to make it clearer what you are trying to say by trying to replicate the natural patterns of speech.

@JilltheTooth Haha, uh, well maybe no criticism meant, but uh, it’s definitely implied, structurally and delivery wise and by definition of bizarre etc. Perhaps another example would’ve held down less implication of critique. :P :D :3

Geez. No. there wasn’t. If you want to get technical about it, the person who made the statement that would be me is in charge of whether or not there was an implication. It’s about intent. There was no intent, therefore no implication.
This post, however, is all about the statement, and the intent here is to imply that you should not attribute motives to third parties that you don’t know. Except I guess that this is not an implication, either, as it is obviously a direct statement.

@JilltheTooth Ok. Sounds good.

I italicize titles (movies, songs, books, etc.) otherwise I tend to do it for many of the reasons already stated.

lol @JilltheTooth!

C’mon, Josh, you’re making a MOUNTAIN out of a mole hill. Just look it up in your Strunk and Wagnell. You’re being argumentative. But maybe that’s what you wanted to do.

@Sunny2 There’s nothing wrong with debate hahaha.

Fluther doesn’t have a “quote” button that I am aware of (does it?) so I use italics to point out a quote from a previous post. Also, it helps separate blocks of text – easier readability.

Curious, was this brought on by my question? I’m guessing, yes.

Oh, and my answer – same as @thorninmud.

I have no idea.

I italicize here for all the same reasons that I do it elsewhere, plus one: namely, to quote an earlier post.

Elsewhere I italicize according to standard typographic conventions: for titles, emphasis, foreign expressions, etc.

We do it to emphasize a word, so that the reader can better “hear” the emphasis on certain words. I also use bold type when I really want a word to “sound” strong. I’m not sure why it would be confusing or annoying… unless people simply want something to piss and moan about.

For me it’s to add emphasis on something. Sometimes I use it in ways that I think compliment sarcasm or me trying to be funny. If we couldn’t italicize on here, I’d probably swear a hell of a lot more than I already do.
I also often use this when naming a title for a game, movie, book or song. Makes me feel like a fuckin’ professional.

Oh damn. I just realized I ended that last sentence with a preposition and it’s past the editing time. Don’t I feel like an asshole, haha!

Because you’re supposed to use italics in titles and for emphasis. :)

@auhsojsa : I get that as someone who has taken Journalism you may indeed be a rules junky, but those rules don’t apply here. Here, we discuss, debate, argue, converse, confer, dissertate, confab, contest, etc etc etc. We don’t report.

Don’t worry about it, @WillWorkForChocolate. Consider Churchill’s response to someone who pointed out to him that he had ended a sentence with a preposition. His response? “That is the kind of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.”

So there.

lol

I italicize because I like to imagine my words pressing, or leaning, into an otherwise parallel reality.

Yes, pretty much everyone knows that writing in all caps is rude. That’s internet protocol 101.

But thats because an entire post is way too difficult to read in blocky text.

But several people here have extrapolated that to include even one word or a 2–3 word short phrase. This is the first time ive heard that expressed. A word or two in caps is not at all difficult to read since it is contrasted to the flow of the entire rest of the post.

The prohibition of ALL CAPS applies to entire portions of text because it just creates one large unwieldy block of undifferentiated words.

But a few words does not constitute ALL because all means precisely that. Its quite a literal word. So unless a clueless person types ALL of their post in caps, its not all caps. To be accurate, it is using caps quite sparingly. Quite sparingly and ALL are not synonymous.

If you can find an authoritative source which makes it clear that the phrase ALL CAPS specifically includes even the odd few 1–3 words here and there, I’d be interested in seeing it because I have yet to encounter it.

I’m not speaking of Jornalism rules here. I’m talking internet “rules” As has already been mentioned , we aren’t reporters here. This is not our professional job. We post here because we enjoy it.

I don’t level any criticism at anyone for how they choose to format or not format their writing. As long as they aren’t being obviously rude or obnoxious, I don’t presume rudeness where most likely none was intended.

Kindly don’t ascribe intent to me which you have now possible way of knowing since we still don’t possess mind-reading skills. Typing a few words in caps is neither difficult nor rude. Its simply efficient. Nothing more, nothing less.

Rearranging parts of phrases, adding the formatting clues, etc really significantly breaks up the train of thought when writing. For the writer, its incredibly distracting to keep interrupting WHAT is being said to change the method in which it displays.

Since we use capital letters in the normal course of writing, that doesn’t alter the flow. The rest of the formatting hocus pocus certainly does FOR ME. If you’re comfortable with it and enjoy that’s great for you. Enjoy it. I have absolutely no criticism for you one way or another whichever you choose.

My personal choice of sparing use of caps is a conscious choice for me. Its neither ignorant nor rude for me to do so since it definitely is not more difficult to read. That’s hogwash.

I have zero intent to be rude or obnoxious so why would anybody make that presumption for a scant few words? My plain and simple intent is efficiency…..PERIOD.

To claim that it makes it difficult to read in caps at all is just plain illogical. Huge blocks of ALL Caps, yes absolutely. Isolated words or phrases? Come on now, lets not stretch a simple premise to a ridiculous extreme here, please.

I had a friend who was dyslexic. Using ALL CAPS made it easier for her to read and to write because it eliminated the p,q, b, and d issue for her. These letters don’t have mirror images in upper case.

Knowing that put an entirely new perspective on the subject for me. I’m much more forgiving of all caps users now, unless I know they are not dyslexic.

And I agree with @Buttonstc