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This makes me crazy, but there must be a good reason this is done. Is there really anyone who doesn't know that "two" is "2" or "three" is "3"?
I mostly see it on legal documents, but in many others as well. Is it a old style of writing that keeps finding its way into modern writing, or is it really still correct, and I'm wrong?
Janis said:
...but there must be a good reason this is done.
Don't be too sure about that! There may have been a reason at one time (in the days when all documents were written out in longhand?), but I agree that it doesn't make sense anymore. Legal documents, unfortunately, are known for meaningless, archaic usages. (One of my favorites: "ss," meaning... well, no one seems to know.)
Good question, Janis. In Garner's Modern American Usage, Bryan Garner (an expert on legal writing) says that this convention harks back to the time when legal scribes spelled out numbers so they couldn't be fraudulently altered. (I guess the way a clever student might just add a little line to that report card making the "F" an "A.") Much harder to do that in the pre-whiteout and pre-photocopying days if you spelled out the name of the number as well. He says, btw, that this convention should remain in the realm of legal writing and that even there, as you suggest, it's often unnecessary.
The majority of the gobbledy gook that we call legalese is simply the avoidance of doubt. I've participated in many contract negotiations where the bulk of the discussion is not whether both parties are okay with the terms, but whether both parties clearly understand the terms.
I sat in one discussion where a five minute argument over whether to use Product Assurance or Quality Assurance was resolved when someone said, "I think we both mean the same thing. Can we include both terms and a definition?" - so everyone agrees and there's one less reason to go to court later, but as a consequence, the contract becomes longer and - to some - more incomprehensible.
Regardless of how it may have started, I think the practice of writing numbers two different ways persists because it avoids doubt.
Having read Martha's post in this thread, I thought I'd toss in this little story. It might be of special interest to parents with kids still in school.
This was back in the 80s, when computer technology was just hitting the consumer market. No names will be mentioned in order to protect the guilty. This was at a private school with affluent and tech-savvy students. I was on the faculty.
One day I wandered down to the publications office, where students produced the school newspaper. Nobody was there, but sufficient evidence was scattered around for me to piece together what was happening. Turns out that a small ring of students were operating a fairly lucrative business of scanning report cards, altering letter grades, and re-printing them (in color) on the same letterhead used for official school business. I have no idea how long this was going on. Few parents would ever take the time to correlate letter grades with GPAs on actual transcripts, which these students knew could have far greater consequences if forged.
When I started asking questions to the publications staff, they "fessed up" and pleaded with me not to turn them in. Of course, I could not oblige that request. The leader of the ring was expelled. Word of warning to parents ... this kind of forgery is even easier these days. Best to be involved in your child's schooling and communicate with the teachers. Of course, that's always sage advice.
When I went away to college, I got a checking account for the first time. (Pre-debit card days, and pre-easy-credit-card days too.) It was a joint checking account with my parents, and it all sounded good. They made deposits, I wrote checks. Yeah!
Then, in my first month's statement, I got my statement and the cancelled checks forwarded from my Mom. (Yes, before online check imaging, too.) Her red teacher's pen had been used to correct my spelling. I had never had to spell out the word for 11 before, and I didn't guess it had three e's.
Knowing just how closely I was being watched made my plans for the checking account just a little bit less gleeful...
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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