461
Literally Nineteen Eighty-Four (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago by MisterFrog@lemmy.world to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
85 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21049862

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").

(page 2) 35 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago

I spell out numbers when I want to emphasize them.

Take George Orwell for example:

"Nineteen Eighty-Four" has a lot more of a punch to it than just "1984."

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 days ago

I used to work in a library, and I hate this. We used to have both a "2001: a space Odyssey" and a "two thousand and one: a space oddesey", sorted based on the spelling.

[-] JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Isn't that part of the reason we have Dewey/LoC system?

[-] Tar_alcaran@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

Those are for academic books, not novels. And you'd still sort everything within a category alphabetically by author and then by title (usually)

[-] JusticeForPorygon@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I found Larry Flynt's autobiography at my university's library using the LCCN system.

Then again that's a University library so it might be different.

[-] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Yeah haha, this is why it came to my mind. In this case it's a title, so not really for the purpose of being used as a number.

Though, I suppose I didn't specify this

[-] lugal@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 days ago

Nein

[-] Phoenix3875@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

Spell out numbers under 10, but not when it's divisible by three or five.

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

Hahaha, of course, it makes so much sense now

[-] LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 days ago

I somehow have "spell out if less than 13" burned in my mind from somewhere in middle school. No idea if it is right, but so far it has worked.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2024
461 points (97.7% liked)

Science Memes

10752 readers
4182 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Sal@mander.xyz
fossilesque@mander.xyz
SciBot@mander.xyz