3 ms·

There are specific subsets of English that are used in certain domains that have standards bodies behind them, like Simplified Technical English for aviation. I

There are specific subsets of English that are used in certain domains that have standards bodies behind them, like Simplified Technical English for aviation. It even has a working group! [0] VOA also have a Learning English spec for broadcast english [1] but that seems to be a lot looser of a spec. So it's definitely not impossible. The funny thing, is I remember being told in grade school that in English Canada, I was to write numbers with a space as the thousands separator. `$10 000.00`, instead of `$10,000.00`. This is because french Canada uses a comma as a decimal point, `10 000.00 $`, so a space is non ambiguous. I have rarely ever seen the English space format in use here. I don't think English speakers would respect any authority if it wasn't as domain-scoped as Aviation or Learning english. [0] https://www.asd-ste100.org/ https://www.asd-ste100.org/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_English_(version_of_English) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_English_(version_of_E...

speakeron 2y ago
The use of a space as a thousands separator has been around since the 1940s as recommended by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and it was what we used when I was a kid at school in the UK. They specified it should be a thin (half) space. https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/28433818/working-document-ID-10850/978c05bc-b4ce-adce-ba8b-8eb9bf48c509 https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/28433818/working-docume...
- graypegg 2y ago
  No I know, it's also part of the French standard. Just more so commenting on how uncommon it is from Canadian English speakers despite it being the Canadian English "standard" recommend by a Canadian entity similar to the French or German standards bodies.
michaelt 2y ago
> So it's definitely not impossible. Well, it's definitely not impossible to publish a document declaring itself the standard form of english. But I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to get english speakers to comply - or even to get any countries to make the standard legally binding.
- catlikesshrimp 2y ago
  Imagine either England or the USA accepting to vary their language towards a common standard. I expect strong opposition would stem from pride.
  - ktosobcy 2y ago
    Judging from how well adopting SI went (is going in the UK?) sadly it seems impossible :(
int_19h 2y ago
FWIW while comma vs period for decimal fractions is a point of significant variability globally, the use of comma to group digits is fairly uncommon, whereas period is universally understood as a decimal separator even in countries where comma is normally used for that purpose (thanks to calculators and computers). And, on the other hand, space-separated groups are self-explanatory for those used to comma for that purpose. So using spaces for grouping + period for fractions is indeed the way to go to maximum readability worldwide.
qingcharles 2y ago
It's interesting now to see more and more programming languages using an underscore as the thousands separator to allow for easier reading without trying to get into a mess of commas or full-stops as separators.

speakeron 2y ago

The use of a space as a thousands separator has been around since the 1940s as recommended by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and it was what we used when I was a kid at school in the UK. They specified it should be a thin (half) space. https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/28433818/working-document-ID-10850/978c05bc-b4ce-adce-ba8b-8eb9bf48c509 https://www.bipm.org/documents/20126/28433818/working-docume...

graypegg 2y ago
No I know, it's also part of the French standard. Just more so commenting on how uncommon it is from Canadian English speakers despite it being the Canadian English "standard" recommend by a Canadian entity similar to the French or German standards bodies.

michaelt 2y ago

> So it's definitely not impossible. Well, it's definitely not impossible to publish a document declaring itself the standard form of english. But I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to get english speakers to comply - or even to get any countries to make the standard legally binding.

catlikesshrimp 2y ago
Imagine either England or the USA accepting to vary their language towards a common standard. I expect strong opposition would stem from pride.
- ktosobcy 2y ago
  Judging from how well adopting SI went (is going in the UK?) sadly it seems impossible :(

int_19h 2y ago

FWIW while comma vs period for decimal fractions is a point of significant variability globally, the use of comma to group digits is fairly uncommon, whereas period is universally understood as a decimal separator even in countries where comma is normally used for that purpose (thanks to calculators and computers). And, on the other hand, space-separated groups are self-explanatory for those used to comma for that purpose. So using spaces for grouping + period for fractions is indeed the way to go to maximum readability worldwide.

qingcharles 2y ago

It's interesting now to see more and more programming languages using an underscore as the thousands separator to allow for easier reading without trying to get into a mess of commas or full-stops as separators.