TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: one vs 1 From:quills -at- airmail -dot- net To:Deborah Hemstreet <dvora -at- tech-challenged -dot- com> Date:Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:01:57 -0500
That we need smarter readers?
In truth there is a reason to use written numerals for ten and below.
That is the flow and comprehension for reading. Also, 1 can be misread
as I or l. Clarity of meaning is the reason for spelling out the numbers
less than ten, and using numbers for the those greater than ten.
Just because someone in marketing wants to do it with all numbers
doesn't make it correct or more readable.
Scott
Deborah Hemstreet wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I've written a brochure for a company to distribute to their employees.
>
> I am in somewhat of a dilemma: Corrections have been returned and they would
> like all numbers to be printed as numbers (1 not one).
> However, the RULES of writing say to spell out all numbers less than 10.
>
> When writing a statement such as: "There is a one week waiting period (seven
> consecutive calendar days)"... I have to be honest, I believe the target
> audience will absorb the information better as: "There is a 1 week waiting
> period (7 consecutive calendar days)"...
>
> What do you think?
>
Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices. http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-