Capital NOT

Originally posted 2008-04-28 01:28:26

People are always careful when typing emails.
People are now always careful when typing emails.
People are not always careful when typing emails.

Emailers often both read and write the above statements synonymously, simultaneously asserting and negating their intents as they saunter through communication wreckage. I’m not sure why correctly typing \”not\” or correctly reading \”not\” poses such a challenge, but I bump into this problem at least weekly, if not daily.

To combat this problem and avoid subsequent clarification email threads, I now (NOT \”not\”) capitalize NOT every time I type it in emails. The discomfort of holding down shift ascertains that I truly mean to type NOT. Readers, too, are much less likely to miss a capital NOT than a lowercase \”not.\” I have begun encouraging colleagues to follow suit.