Commitment to lowercase: larp instead of LARP

You might have noticed a subtle change recently. I've started lowercasing the word larp, and I no longer write it as LARP. In a way, this mirrors the growing trend in the world, with the acronym LARP becoming a proper noun, larp. Especially in places where it's going more popular and closer to the mainstream.

And it's not the first time it happened, acronyms become nouns all the time - RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging) and LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) are just some of the former acronyms which became nouns over time. Also, it's a growing linguistical trend in the world - nordic larpers notably having fully commited to it, and more and more larpers around the globe accepting the change. It's still live action role playing, just having its own word now.

It's not the first time change happened here - a few years ago it was standard practice in Croatia to write it as "L.A.R.P." which is even more unwieldy, technical-looking and off-putting. Lowercase larp also helps reduce the jargon about larping, making it (in my opinion) somewhat more accessible, more something of its own, and more typographically attractive. Larpers, larping etc. looks better than LARPers, LARPing or LARP-ers, LARP-ing etc.

So there you go. I've gone lowercase, future articles here will use it in that form. You're welcome and invited to use the lowercase form as well.

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The 15 rules of larp

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Diary of a Croatian larper

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