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This is surprising to me because as a British person living in the US, who is familiar with British and American English, I've never once heard anyone use "and"
by kaashif 4y ago
This is surprising to me because as a British person living in the US, who is familiar with British and American English, I've never once heard anyone use "and" to mean a decimal point. Literally never. The first time I'm hearing about it is from your comment.
I even found this article about how "and" doesn't actually mean decimal point: https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/02/decimal-point.html https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/02/decimal-point.htm...
- fsckboy 4y agojust because you haven't heard of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I think it dates from the time when the only decimals the average person would use were in currency.
- Loocid 4y agoAnd just because it exists, doesn't mean it's "right". Your link is the only one I could find on the first page of google that states "and" means decimal point. Every other source I could find says "100.17" is either "one hundred point one seven" or "one hundred point seventeen".
- eyelidlessness 4y agoIt’s a distinction I remember from (American) childhood (I’m ~40) but I think even then it was viewed as pedantic and falling out of common usage. I don’t think either is “right” even if I take a prescriptivist approach, but even if I’m not aware of it I do tend to favor omitting non-decimal “and” in my own usage in hope it’s less ambiguous.