View Full Version : The Spelling Thread
anonymouse
03-24-2007, 07:11 PM
Quick question: how do I write 24/7 in a story? Will the numerals suffice, or should more formal spelling be used?
anonymouse
anonymouse
03-24-2007, 11:46 PM
Just bumping this back to the top...
J's blu
03-25-2007, 04:22 AM
as a reader, i find the numerals quite acceptable. it is the accepted practise elsewhere as far as i have seen. i would go with it.
yours blu
Warbaby1943
03-25-2007, 04:23 AM
24/7 looks good to me
TomOfSweden
03-25-2007, 04:57 AM
I think you should think of your intended audience. If it's a bunch of pervs, (ie us on the forum) who are allready deep into the lingo then 24/7 is fine. But if you've got plans for a wider circulation I would go for something more descriptive and less cryptic.
I can imagine that a lot of the readers on the library are new to the scene, or completly out of it and need some explanation.
anonymouse
03-25-2007, 07:23 AM
Thanks one and all.
Ozme52
03-25-2007, 10:02 PM
On the other hand... cryptic can be good. Anthony Burgess virtually created a complete patois for Clockwork Orange
anonymouse
03-25-2007, 10:37 PM
Burgess did indeed. A mix of Cockney rhyming slang and Russian gobbledegook, iirc?
My feeling is that the expression (24/7) is common enough -- I've heard politicians use it, and enough others to think the expression has entered into 'common usage'.
I've also had another thought since first posting: 24/7 as numerals has precedence in usage with things such as the 1960s in the context of music. I personally cringe whenever a politician says 'twenty-four-seven' but it's always reported in print news as 24/7. I think I'll take my cue from that.
anonymouse
Ozme52
07-09-2007, 10:54 PM
Found this little ditty for your consideration and amusement.
--------------------------------
I have a spelling chequer,
It came with my pea see,
It plane lee marks four my revue,
Miss takes I can knot sea.
I've run this poem threw it,
I'm shore your pleased to no,
It's perfect in every weigh,
My chequer tolled me sew.