Euro Prices
 

I am trying to make a reservation in Greece over the internet but I am getting confused about a price. It tells me the price is €54,00. The comma is what is confusing me. Does that really mean 54 Euro.

Yes, Europeans use the comma where we use the decimal point.

Yes, Europeans often use commas where we use decimal points.

Where we use decimal points, Europeans use commas.

Europeans use the comma whereas the U.S. uses the decimal point.

Now that we've solved that mystery, I thought you might like to know that the European numeral 1 looks much like the U.S. numeral 7 when written; ergo, Europeans put a dash mark (-) across the 7 to distinguish it from the 1. It could be confusing to first-time travelers. :-) ((b))

Hi B,

I have been using the European 7 (with slash) my entire life (almost). It does prevent mistaking a 1 for a 7.

Last year, our local, small-town bank installed a computer imaging system to read checks.

They asked me to stop using the "strange seven symbol".

I told them that at my age, there was no way I could remember to make a 7 without a slash.

It took 6 weeks for the computer wizards to program the machine to recognize the slashed 7.

((I))

The so-called "slashed seven" has been used in scientific notation for decades to help distinguish it from the number one. Why this would take so long to "program" into a computer system is mystifying..perhaps if your name were Laura Bush things would ahve moved faster.

It's a question of the chicken and the egg, but if I'm not mistaken, it is Americans who substituted the universal/worldwide use of decimal coma with the decimal point. We just have to be different than the rest of the world. Not sure about the commonwealth countries, anyone ?

Whilst continental Europeans use the comma to denote the decimal place, the British and Irish use a point.

In the UK it is fast becoming out-moded to use commas to denote thousands as was common in previous generations - but they still appear from time to time - don't get them confused with continental decimal markers!

Thus:-

£12,507.99 - trad. British.
£12507.99 - modern British.
€12507,99 - continental european.

I don't think this is going to be an issue which unduly troubles you during your holiday!

Dr D.

We use decimals in Canada, too.

Anselm

Decimals were indicated by a point when John Napier first invented them.

As far as I'm aware, the English adopted Napier's original suggestion, and the British Isles have been consistent in this pretty much ever since. The Continent decided to cut itself off from us, though most of our former colonies didn't.

I think South Africa followed the Continent at one point, and South Asia has its own way of separating noughts into lakhs and crores tather than thousands.

Incidentally, "Europeans" don't use a slashed 7 any more than "Europeans" use a decimal comma. Like the thousand-marking point, these are all Continental affectations.

Australians and New Zealanders also use the decimal point. One usage that does often throw me is the American date format (month/day rather than day/month). I use a slashed seven most of the time and out of habit I sometimes put a diagonal slash across a zero to distinguish it from the letter 'o'.

Actually, Ira, if you use the "crossed" seven, as I do, you are following a very old biblical tradition.

Seems that when Moses came down from the Mount, he was explaining the Commandments to the multitudes. When he came to NUMBER SEVEN, "THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY!". The multitudes shouted, "Cross it off! Cross it off!

:-)

LOL nukesafe!!! I have always put a slash through the seven..so far my bank hasn't complained Ira.

The comment by Neil.. day/month/year is certainly used in Italy, do not know about the rest of Europe so do be aware of that possibility trpchick.

Molvanians use an blood sausage instead of either a comma or decimal point.

Only the rich ones. Ordinary people use a piece of donkey-do.

There are no rich Molvanians. At least, not in Molvania.

Hey trpchick, if you're still here and trying to make a hotel reservation (in Molvania or elsewhere) you might also want to know that Europeans put the month first, then the day, then the year when writing dates.

Could make a difference in your plans (maybe not as much as that decimal point issue, but possibly). :-)

Happy travels!

Breeep! Breeep! Bad advice alert!

Europeans often write dates as DAY, then MONTH, then YEAR!

My baa-aaaa-ad. So sorry.

I believe that everyone (or almost everyone) except Americans writes the date in D-M-Y order. And everyone (or almost everyone) uses metric measurements.

> I believe that everyone (or almost everyone) except Americans writes the date in D-M-Y order.

That's right, except in Asian countries with American influence. I know in Japan they write YYYY/MM/DD.

Just in case - always spell out the month in a word, not a number..

Neil_Oz, I think you're right about the prevalence of the DD-MM-YY system. I wish I could say that it is consistent in Canada, but there are some who have adopted the US practice of MM-DD-YY.

We are equally confused on using the metric system. We measure highway distance, fuel, and fuel economy in kilometres, litres, and litres per 100 km. At the grocery store, we use both the metric and the imperial system. I am looking right now at a tin of artichoke hearts that says "14 fl oz 398 mL" on the label. If you want to purchase sliced Black Forest ham, you can ask for so many ounces or so many grams--the butcher's scales can handle either. Most builders and trades people still talk about square feet of floor space or so many inches of pipe. Farmers say acres, newspapers and governments talk about hectares. Perhaps oddest of all is the newspapers' habit of converting imperial measure to metric, even when it makes no sense. A report of a ship or an aircraft travelling at so many knots will be converted to kilometres per hour--intellectually satisfying, perhaps, but nonsensical to a sailor or a flyer. Why even the government has that one right--inland weather forecasts talk about windspeeds in kilometres per hour; marine and avaiation forecasts use knots.

Anselm

Being anti-globalization and homogenization of the world's cultures, I applaud countries that maintain their traditional ways--including weights and measures and systems of dating (all sorts of dating).

Rage against the machine! Oops, gotta go--time for my morning Starbucks decaf Caramel Macchiato Espresso.

The UK is stuck between Imperial and metric too. Building supplies are supposed to have gone metric, but you will often hear people talking about needing 800mm of four-by-two. But we manage. I think I can still do duodecimal arithmetic, as well.

...and in the U.S. it's a two-by-four.
We do everything backwards!

While I agree that country-specific traditions are in general a good thing, and that the globalization trend can eliminate those very things that make a country unique, I think that there are some general standards that would make life alot easier. For example, how much does stone weigh? How do you convert this to anything relevant today? Cubits, hectares, and leagues -- all a mystery to me. And thank goodness that when my aircraft needs refueling, the operators aren't trying to convert kotules into amphoras, and then into imperial gallons...

It's horses for courses. A stone is 14lb, and if you use it often enough (as most people do in the UK), then it isn't a problem (indeed, I would much rather weigh eleven-and-a-bit of something than a-hundred-and-fifty-plus of something else).

But for those things that are internationally traded (if only personal body-fat could be), there are metric tonnes.

I'm not bothered whether I use metric or imperial measures, except that I can't imagine buying metric trousers with a waist measurement of eighty-something: it sounds so hugely fat.

"And thank goodness that when my aircraft needs refueling, the operators aren't trying to convert kotules into amphoras, and then into imperial gallons..."

Well, we did have a bit of an incident with that kind of thing. In the summer of 1983, an Air Canada B767 ran out of fuel over central Canada, finally gliding powerless to an inactive airfield in Gimli, Manitoba. No one was injured, and the aircraft eventually returned to the skies. I believe it is still in the AC fleet.

The cause, unfortunately, was an error in converting the weight of the fuel from kilograms to pounds. You can read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

Anselm

And then there's the issue of the standard 2-by-4 (or 4-by-2) that's shrunk to about 3 1/4-by-1 3/4.

Rage against the machine, indeed.