How Gen Z is phasing out ‘aggressive’ capital letters

Each generation rebels. Perhaps this is an anti-older generation movement. A pushing back against a Boomer realm that’s messing up the planet and possibly galloping us into World War III.

“Lowercase is less aggressive and communicates a nicer/more relaxed tone,” one member of the younger generation told me. Picture: istock

Yo, my name’s nikstix & this is new me. hope you like. one day i might actually embrace that boring uppercase, tight-assed scene of facebookers, rents (parents) and uncs (uncles) but hey, adidas, rupi kaur, billie eilish and tumblr don’t. it’s a vibe thing. along with the fading away of full stops (aggressive) and fully spelled out words (tedious). you with me?

Are we? With a younger generation merrily bulldozing through the rules-based order of language and literature? One of the certainties of the past they’re ditching, alongside cereal and soap bars, are capital letters.

Over to a sampling of Gen Zs/Alphas to explain why: “lowercase is less aggressive and communicates a nicer/more relaxed tone,” one responded, in instructive lowercase. “uppercase and correct grammar implies seriousness and urgency/professionalism,” responded another. “Lowercase feels more casual, approachable and even a little subversive. It flows better,” texted a third. The rest agreed this youngest one must be cheating with AI because everything was suspiciously fast, perfect and correct; with uppercase letters in abundance, i.e. Not Real. “It’s the visual equivalent of a chill tone,” AI dude concluded. Right. Then added, “Can we have 20 bucks?” Because they’re all attached to me and contributing to this column, which is work, so they should be paid, no? Bugger off, I may or may not have replied, but nice try.

Are capitals actually needed? Picture: istock

Yet it got me thinking. Are capitals actually needed? The no-capital world is convenient; it’s about goofiness, imperfection, playfulness. The English language is extraordinarily robust – it copes with dramatic changes over time, evolves, and we’re in the thick of fast and fragmented, screen-saturated change. Writers have to adapt. Embrace new ways, find fresh methods of communicating, to net the younger reader used to flitting from screen to screen like a butterfly amid flowers. The publishing world tells us that younger readers now baulk at the dreaded, densely texted Long Book. Make it new, commanded Ezra Pound, and writers must. They need to develop fresh ways of communicating to meet the times head on, or we’ll lose our younger generations of readers.

Young people are now turning off auto-capitalisation on their phones. But when the big wide world of adulthood looms, there’s a shift. There’s a TikTok trend where young adults announce they’re turning auto-capitalisations back on; it’s a public declaration of stepping across the threshold into the formal world of adulting. (Once upon a time that was called “the 21st birthday”.)

Each generation rebels. Perhaps this is an anti-older generation movement. A pushing back against a Boomer realm that’s messing up the planet and possibly galloping us into World War III. Why does that generation dare to say it knows best when it produces a Trump, a Putin; all those old men clinging to power and recklessly beating the drums of war, when it’s actually Gen Z lives that will be sacrificed.

I love the dynamism of the English language, it’s so alive, quicksilver, adaptive. Younger generations are rebelling against archaic grammar rules and capitals, and rather than railing against all that we older writers should be experimenting with written forms of communication that work in a new way. Should be accommodating the audacity, flexibility and playfulness of that younger lot. After all, the future of the language, in this brave new robotic world, lies in their hands.

Then a late-night text from one of my contributors: “The internet took off and the kids took over before the adults even knew, still busy for a decade talking about ‘violence in video games’ and ‘what your kids are seeing on the internet’ and all that. While y’all were trying to tighten the rules, we made a world and language for ourselves.” He deserves his 20 bucks.