an auctioneer's catalogue, or in an advertisement where compactness is desired, lie may repeat it exactly as written, using figures and abbreviations for feet and inches. If it is for a more carefully printed trader's pamphlet or circular, he may use figures, but he should spell out the words feet and inches; if it is for the descriptive text of a good book, the words eight feet and eleven inches should be preferred. This substitution of words for figures is a hazard, but the compositor may assume, when space is limited and brevity is sought, that figures and abbreviations will be preferred.
WORDS PREFERRED IN FORMAL WRITINGS
When great precision of statement is desired, as is customary in legal documents and in many other kinds of formal writing, figures and abbreviations should never be used where there is abundance of space.[1] Words should be preferred for the statements of whole numbers in simple sentences:
- The basket held twenty apples.
- The engine has one hundred horse-power.
- The steamer's capacity is six thousand tons.
In ordinary newspaper and job work numbers of infrequent recurrence should be in words. Even
- ↑ The principal exception to this rule is to be found in the composition of tables in which the compactness of figures aids the reader in making a comparison of amounts.
