Lowercase i's

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 17:17, 13 January 2020

A little out of place

Uppercase I's and lowercase i's

In many instances of text in the Homestar Runner body of work, lowercase i's appear where they normally wouldn't. This subtle quirk originated with Strong Bad's handwriting; the capital i of the font used (AhnbergHand) looks like a lowercase i, so any time Strong Bad needs to write one, it appears as if it were lowercase. The most well-known instance is in dragon, where he labels his drawing TROGDOR the BURNiNATOR, although in this case he does actually use a capital i. Strong Bad's handwriting can also be seen throughout every issue of Teen Girl Squad. Over time, Strong Bad's handwriting was used more and more, and the lowercase i was seen more frequently. Gradually, this idiosyncrasy crossed over to the other fonts featured on the website. It soon became evident that The Brothers Chaps decided to make most uppercase i's lowercase, no matter what font was being used, as an inside joke.

In looking old, Bubs states, "Well, I've been noticing how kids love anything with a lowercase 'i' in front of it" and posts a sign at his concession stand advertising "iTems". Rather than an instance of this particular running gag, where a lowercase "i" is inserted into an entirely capitalized word, Bubs is instead making a joke about the popularity of such Apple products as the iPod, iMac, iBook, and the iPhone.

Appearances (excluding Strong Bad's handwriting)

• Oldest Toons Menu — Part of the description for "Pom Pom, Too" reads "Pom-Pom i think is his name".
• Yearbook Character Page — Marzipan's autograph's signature reads "KiSSES".
• Tis True, Pom Pom, Tis True — Strong Bad crosses the "100 MiLE SUPERTHON FiNiSH" line before Homestar Runner.
• Email i love you — Strong Bad types "can i just call you fhqwgads?".
• Email i she be — Strong Bad again fails to capitalize an i in his response.
• Where's The Cheat — In the opening credits, it says "it's called: Where's The Cheat?".
• Email the bird — The word WiTH inside the email itself.
• Email weird dream — Strong Bad once again types a lowercase i: "all i had to eat was like... 13 pudding pops, okay?"
• Malloween Commercial — Homestar's shirt reads "This iS my costume!"
• Email mile — Homestar holds up a sign that says "I ♥ COOTiES".
• These peoples try to fade me — Coach Z holds up a sign reading "WiLL FLOW AND/OR FREAK FOR FOOD". Also, in the recording booth, the light reads "ON AiR".
• Email impression — In his penmanship entry for the 2003 Strong Sad Lookalike Contest, Strong Bad writes, "STRONG SAD'S FANCY HANDWRiTiNg".
• Email flashback — At the beginning of the email, "Weird" is captioned as "WEiRD".
• Seasonal Sweaters — One of the sweaters reads "JiNG" and another reads "FRUiTCAKE iS GROSS".
• Labor Dabor — One of The Cheat's bowling animations showcases a pin being cut in half, the blood spurt spelling "SPLiT".
• Email the facts — Strong Mad's claymation cartoon is titled "DOUG the DiNO", and his "computer" has DiSK written on it.
• Shopping for Danger — The Cheat Commandos thwart Blue Laser's plots at PRiCE STYLE. Also, there is the DAiRY section in what appears to be the back of the store.
• Homestar Presents: Presents — One of the credits reads "VOCAL STYLES BY MiSSY AND MATT".
• Email origins — Strong Bad spraypaints graffiti on Marzipan reading "St8K DiNNeR".
• Senorial Day — Bubs holds up a tire of LOW SAViNGS.
• Email modeling — The word "coincidence" on the cover of the "Stupid Coincidence Magazine" is written "COiNCiDENCE".
• Email portrait — Strong Mad's box of macaroni reads "TendaRONi".
• Email secret identity — The title on the cover of the magazine that Strong Bad does his advice column in reads "SCARFGiRL".
• Email narrator — Strong Bad's movie title reads "THiNGS THAT GO DUMP iN THE NiGHT".
• Email disconnected — A poster in an Easter egg reads "With Special Make-up Effects by TOLD SALLIAVERi", containing both a capital and lowercase "i" in the same word.
• Kid Speedy — One of the courses is the EGG MOUNTAIN MiNiTHON. The default value for the "you unlocked" screen is i, and for the time taken to beat a race is i:ii:ii.
• Ice Cream — Two of the three captions read "HOMESTAR RUNNER! WOW! iCY FUNTiME!" and "STRONG BAD! GOOD DELiTE...".
• Email retirement — Marzipan's curtain introduces her as "MARZiPAN".
• Email 4 branches — An Easter egg reveals a spreadsheet with the words "MONGOLIAN BEEF WiG" written across it.
• Email looking old — The sign at Bubs' counter says "10% OFF ALL iTems!"
• Email unnatural — The chalkboard in the background during the meeting reads "TOWN MEETiN'".
• Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 14.2: Homestar is shown in the Kiddie Pool from stunt double with a piece of paper reading "QUiCK SAnD" on it.
• Ever and More! — Bubs's jetski is labeled "WETSKi".
• Email concert — The words "DeViLeD eGG TRAY" are written on Limozeen's list of requirements for a concert.
• Email pizza joint — The tape that The Cheat puts on The King of Town's Grill reads "CHEATSA PiZZA".
• Rap Song — The cassette tape in the tape recorder reads "MiCK'S TAPE".
• Sloshybowl — The loading screen reads "LOADiNG".
• Email buried — Bubs's cans of toxic waste read "iNTOXICATiNGLY good WASTE".
• SBCG4AP Advertisement — The viewer is informed that this "GAMe WiLL NOT LiTeRALLY" leave their Wii a smoldering crater.
• Email love poems — Homestar's acrostic poem spells "MARZiPAN," and hence "inchiladas" is written entirely in lowercase.
• Strong Badia the Free — The map that shows which nations Strong Bad has already conquered use all caps except for lowercase i's.
• Twenty THANXty Six — At the end, during the credits, it says "Animators: i can not name all of them. one is sarah."
• Hremail 2000 — Homestar's shoe has the word "STREiSAND" written on it.
• Career Day — Strap Coopmore bumps into a satellite that reads "BiKiNi CHANNEL".
• Where U Goin' 2 — The loading screen reads "LOADiNG".
• Doomy Tales of the Macabre — Strong Mad's "treat bag", which is actually a dumpster, has the words "TRiCK TREAT" spray-painted on it.
• SBCG4AP Dev Blog for April 24, 2009 — The final drawing has a poster in the background reading "POOPSMITH CHARiT[...]", and the newspaper in the drawing reads "GRiMACE CAUGHT!".
• Fish Eye Lens — One of the commands on the Powered by The Cheat-style menus is "PAXELiZE".

Variations

• 2 years — Strong Badia's "FIReWORKS or die" mural.