Avoid—ableist language
SpongeBob case
Speech
adjective
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text styling that randomly alternates lowercase and uppercase letters to indicate sarcasm or to take a deragatory tone, popularised with a meme of SpongeBob Squarepants where he is deformed; also known as Mocking SpongeBob, SpongeMock, or alternating caps.
Context
The meme, Mocking SpongeBob or SpongeMock, shows SpongeBob Squarepants in a deformed state (from an episode where SpongeBob is acting like a chicken, with his arms and torso askew). Read more about the meme's evolution. People overlaid text onto this image in the SpongeBob casing, typically in a call and response way to show mockery or a response to mockery.
The meme went viral and gained so much ubiquity that multiple libraries, packages, and online tools were made for people to convert text into SpongeBob case.
Issues
The meme and associated text styling mocks SpongeBob's appearance and erratic speech (implied by the random casing of the text). Disabled people are often abused, harassed, and mocked for their physical appearance, manner of speaking, and neurodivergence.
Further, writing in this way can add unnecessary cognitive load to both screenreader users and sighted readers. Sarcasm and mockery can also be difficult for people with intellectual disabilities, neurodivergent people, and people with anxiety.
Impact
By using and spreading both the meme and text styling, we are perpetuating ableist) language, violence, systems and of harm against Disabled people, regardless of our awareness and/or intent.
Usage Tip
Mockery in general is unkind and unhelpful. To convey sarcasm, closing with "/sarcasm" or "/s" or "🙄" for annoyance are some options to help people distinguish.
Further Reading
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