Thanks everyone for your responses. I appreciate all the feedback! Deirdre
On 7/23/08, Combs, Richard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Deirdre Reagan wrote: > > > Here's what I'm talking about: > > > > "Move the part numbers that begin with a numerical character to the > > end of the list after the part numbers that begin with an alpha > > character." > > > > I'm just wondering how widespread this usage is. Are these terms just > > in my documents in my company, and I should make the correction, or do > > technical writers the world over use "alpha characters" to refer to > > letters and "numerical characters" to refer to numbers? > > Lots of people -- even some tech writers -- think their writing sounds > more formal and educated if they avoid short, simple, direct words and > statements. It's true that in some contexts, like programming, you need > to distinguish between, for instance, integers and numeric characters. > > But this is not that kind of context. In this context, "letter" and > "number" are far better. But to avoid repeating "number," I'd use the > equally clear "digit": > > "Move the part numbers that begin with a digit to the end of the list > after the part numbers that begin with a > letter." > > IMHO, YMMV, etc. > > Richard > > > Richard G. Combs > Senior Technical Writer > Polycom, Inc. > richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom > 303-223-5111 > ------ > rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom > 303-777-0436 > ------ > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.