More than/less than vs over/under

I'm all for being concise. But there is an exception that I'm rather pedantic about.

I see it all the time, particularly in advertising - "Chairs for under $100 each", "Return tickets to Melbourne for under $150", "Don't pay over $1000". It makes me cringe.

The words 'under' and 'over' should only be used to describe something that is physically 'below' or 'above'. For example, "The bear went over the mountain" and "I'd like to be under the sea".

When describing a cost, amount or figure, 'more than' and 'less than' should always be used - "Chairs for less than $100 each, "Return tickets to Melbourne for less than $150", "Don't pay more than $1000".

Try to remember this rule next time you book a newspaper or TV ad. You'll be making my leisure time so much more relaxing!

Metamorphosis

I'm wondering if it matters that this blog, which was meant to document the creation of a communications business, has morphed into somewhere for me to vent about language style. I'm hoping I may be assisting others to learn more about style and I'm providing a forum for people to express their views about style. It's also a good way to get my FB and Twitter fans to discover what Leviathan Communications is about ... or at least for them to find out about my editing passion!

Silly me

I must be a dolt. I've only just worked out where to find people's comments on my blog!

Numbers - to use digits or spell out

Another one of my pet peeves is when people spell out numbers that have double or more figures. The convention is to spell out in full numbers zero to nine and then write numbers 10 and onwards in digits. The reasoning for this is, when you get into double or more figures, the written forms of the numbers get longer and longer. It's more concise to use digits.

I had a client who just couldn't cope with me writing 'six-to-12 months'. She asked me for the reasoning and understood it, and she lived with it ... for a little while. But when we got close to print, she asked me to change the phrase to 'six-to-twelve months'. Because she was the client, I made the change, but it pained me to do so!

Yet I do understand where she is coming from. To someone who doesn't live and breathe style conventions, it must look like a mistake to have a number spelled out in full followed by a number written in digits. 'Twelve' isn't a particularly long word. Am I just pedantic? Is there room for flexibility?