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Literally Nineteen Eighty-Four (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago by MisterFrog@lemmy.world to c/engineeringmemes@lemmy.world
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The only numbers I will ever spell are one and zero, and only when using them as a pronoun, or for emphasis, respectively.

Is there ever a reason to not to use symbols when dealing with numbers? Why would "fourteen whatevers" ever be preferable to "14 whatevers". It's just so much easier to read numbers as symbols, not spelled out.

(Caveat, not including multipliers, like "273 billion").

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[-] Laser@feddit.org 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

(Caveat, not including multipliers, like "273 billion").

Billion is ambiguous, better use powers of 10, e.g. 273e9 or 273e12, depending on which one you mean

Or use SI units.

[-] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Even better haha, this is also my preference, but I think most audiences wouldn't like that, I assume.

Edit: 239,000,000,000 is obviously an option. But I rarely see that in a newspaper.

[-] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks ago

The real style guide is always your reader. If specific numbers may be searched for or copied, it is kinder to use symbols. If your reader is merely reading a number in conversation, it would usually be better to follow the usual style guide.

The more you know and care for your reader, the better your writing will be.

[-] Fleur_@lemm.ee 13 points 2 weeks ago

Me writing zero point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero eight five six two one three four nine two to improve the readability of the document by writing numbers less then ten as words.

[-] jimmy90@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

19 80 four?

[-] jet@hackertalks.com 3 points 2 weeks ago

0x7C0

[-] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I love the fact this proves the point, that even for emphasis (which I think the title of 1984 is fine to use), it's LESS clear to spell it out.

I am very thankful my company lets me write numbers and not spell it out.

[-] jet@hackertalks.com 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Remove ambiguity at all costs!

But if they insist I write things out:

Ten-one Ten-two Ten-three Ten-four

I don't think it is clear as 11, 12, 13, 14 but hey who am I to argue?

[-] Fleur_@lemm.ee 3 points 2 weeks ago

Not only did you write those numbers wrong but none of them are less than 10. Maybe the readers perceived ambiguity has less to do with their standard conventions than you think.

[-] jet@hackertalks.com 2 points 2 weeks ago

You're in an engineering community, is ten-one actually wrong?

Consider the sequence: One, eleven, twenty-one, thirty-one, fourty-one, fifty-one... One hundred and one.

As far as the convention of writing numbers out in words when they're less than 10, there's also conventions for less than 15, wikimedia uses the convention if it can be written in two words it's optional to write it out as words.

[-] Fleur_@lemm.ee 2 points 2 weeks ago

You're right but in the specific context the meme addresses I would still argue against you. Perhaps in this hypothetical the reasoning for the convention was irrelevant to whether 11 can be written as eleven or ten-one. Ultimately it doesn't matter, we are in an engineering community, on a post about numbers less than ten and you're arguing with me about ten-one being more situationally valid than eleven when we both agree that 11 is just better.

[-] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

Just a small note on this, style guides have all sorts of weird rules about spelling out numbers, most of which I personally think are nonsense, hence making a meme. Not necessarily just less than 10

this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2024
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