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”).

  • @MisterFrogOPEnglish
    5•20 hours ago

    Only if you have a unit.

    273 GW 👍

    Else, looks kind weird, to my eyes anyway. But fair point haha

    • @marcosEnglish
      1•15 hours ago

      Too bad people underuse it.

      Separating the prefixes from the unities is very useful even in calculations where both are there.

      • @MisterFrogOPEnglish
        1•7 hours ago

        You do you, but this is a big no-no from my point of view.

        For example separating the prefix m from mm would be rather confusing, and look like another unit.

        You can, however, put 10^x wherever you like 👍