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”).

  • @[email protected]English
    25•2 months ago

    recipes are basically an engineering text

    I would love to see more systematic recipe formats.

    Around 15-20 years ago there was a website called “Cooking for Engineers” that used a table format for recipes that was pretty clever, and a very useful diagram for how to visualize the steps (at least for someone like me). I don’t think he ever updated the site to be mobile friendly but you can see it here:

    Cheesecake
    Dirty Rice

    He describes the recipe in a descriptive way, but down at the bottom it lists ingredients and how they go together in a chart that shows what amounts to use, what ingredients go into a particular step, what that step is, and how the product of that step feeds into the next step.

    • @captainlezbianEnglish
      2•2 months ago

      Oh damn that’s a sensical format. I love it and may put my recipes in it once I start writing them properly

    • @[email protected]English
      -3•2 months ago

      1/2 pound (225 g)

      What kind of insanity is this a pound is 500g.

      2 cups (390 g) rice

      Your cups weigh 195g a piece? Reasonable for stoneware, I guess. But why are you telling me and what does it have to do with the mass of rice?