It’s funny that you listed pesos, because Spanish adds ¿ before questions, sort of like an opening quotation mark. So the reader knows it’s a question right at the beginning, instead of getting all the way to the end of the sentence. I’d argue that adding the currency symbol before the number informs the reader that the following number will be a currency amount. Potentially handy when you’re dealing with multiple kinds of numbers at the same time.
Not sure why something has to extrapolate to every context you can think of in order to make a lick of sense, especially when talking about language and writing systems, which almost always have exceptions.
Except putting it in front let’s you understand what the number is that you’re reading before you read it. It’s not 1.5B people. It’s not 1.5B paper airplanes. You know it’s dollars being discussed as you read the number. For understanding, I’m reasonably confident it makes more sense to out it in front.
If it makes more sense to put the unit before the number, then couldn’t one argue we should be writing people1.5B or airplanes1.5B? That way we know what it is before we read the number.
You don’t say dollars 1.5 billion, or pesos 1.5 billion, or yuan 1.5 billion.
It actually makes more sense linguistically for it to follow than come before the amount.
This is why I always find it a joy to use the % sign, it just makes sense how you read 10% as ten percent.
There should be a petition for it to be written %10 in the US.
It’s funny that you listed pesos, because Spanish adds ¿ before questions, sort of like an opening quotation mark. So the reader knows it’s a question right at the beginning, instead of getting all the way to the end of the sentence. I’d argue that adding the currency symbol before the number informs the reader that the following number will be a currency amount. Potentially handy when you’re dealing with multiple kinds of numbers at the same time.
I would argue that for that to make a lick of sense we would also be saying cows 100k, sheep 1.2m.
So not handy at all when it’s the only outlier.
Not sure why something has to extrapolate to every context you can think of in order to make a lick of sense, especially when talking about language and writing systems, which almost always have exceptions.
Maybe that’s the problem, there should be a rhyme or reason so it avoids confusion.
It’s weird people are advocating for random arbitrary rules instead of pushing for something cohesive and makes sense….
Except putting it in front let’s you understand what the number is that you’re reading before you read it. It’s not 1.5B people. It’s not 1.5B paper airplanes. You know it’s dollars being discussed as you read the number. For understanding, I’m reasonably confident it makes more sense to out it in front.
If it makes more sense to put the unit before the number, then couldn’t one argue we should be writing people1.5B or airplanes1.5B? That way we know what it is before we read the number.
Come up with a new symbol character for each of those and and I’ll do just that.
Sure. Some languages do that. It’s totally viable. Our language doesn’t work that way though so you won’t see it, outside of money.