pet peeve of the day:

[low_delta]

Spelling out a number in a sentence, and then following it with the numeral in parentheses.

I can see doing this in legal documents, but in everyday writing it bugs the hell out of me. Anyone who can't read the word "four" probably can't read the rest of the sentence.

"Unfortunately, it was reported at our weekly Employee Safety Group meeting that a minimum of four (4) skids had been found stored incorrectly."

This sentence just makes me cringe.

Comments

[ravengirl.livejournal.com]

*giggle*
*ahem* sorry.
it just struck me funny.

[vwip.livejournal.com]

i suppose it could be a guard against typos etc., like writing cheques with both words and figures

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess that's it, but that's why it should be used on legal-type documents, and unnecessary in everyday use. In this case, it's an unnecessary emphasis. Four skids? Oh my god!

[blonnie.livejournal.com]

i just chuckled out load to myself at this sentence:

"Anyone who can't read the word "four" probably can't read the rest of the sentence."

you make too much sense.. i dunno why but that really makes me laugh :p

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Glad I could help! :-D

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize those parens were used when it was a single digit! I thought for thousands, even hundreds, sure.

Could it be for a computer to recognize the number and for the proper grammar of the memo, where you do spell out the word for the number?

Just an English major overanalyzing here.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of that computer thing. No this was just a memo to employees.