Formatting your posts with HTML tags: bold, italics, underline, colors, and special characters
Aug 17th, 2006, 12:08 AM
#43
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I think that info is great, Larry. It's like all information; you might not need to use it all the time, but it's nice to know where to find it when you do need it.
FYI 50 euros is written 50€ rather than round the other way (at least here in Spain!).
FYI 50 euros is written 50€ rather than round the other way (at least here in Spain!).
Aug 17th, 2006, 02:14 PM
#47
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Alijay and MollyBloom have addressed an issue (whether to write €50 or 50&euro
that I've been wondering about myself. I did some searching, and came up with a document called the <i>English Style Guide</i>, with the sub-title "A handbook for authors and translators in the European Commission".
It includes the following:
§20.5 The currency abbreviation precedes the amount and is followed by a space:
EUR 2 400; USD 2 billion
However, currency symbols are closed up:
€120; £78; $100
§20.6 <i>Units and subunits.</i> Use a point to separate units from subunits:
€7.20; $50.75; EUR 2.4 billion; USD 1.8 billion
§20.7 <i>The euro.</i> Like 'pound', 'dollar' or any other currency name in English, the word 'euro' is written in lower case with no initial capital.
Guidelines on the use of the euro, issued via the Secretariat-General, state that the plurals of both 'euro' and 'cent' are to be written without an 's' in English. Do this when amending or referring to <i>legal</i> texts that themselves observe this rule. However, in all other texts, especially documents intended for the general public, use the natural plurals 'euros' and 'cents'.
In documents and tables where monetary amounts figure largely, make maximum use of the € symbol (closed up to the figure) or the abbreviation EUR before the amount.
-------
My own comment: note that this as considered to be a <i>language-specific</i> issue. The document is describing what to do in <i>English</i>. Therefore, it's not at all clear that it applies in other languages. As MollyBloom said, maybe it's country-specific. I'd love to see other comments on this.
But on Fodor's, we're posting in English. So this answers the question for me when I'm writing in English.
The document is from the European Commission, Directorate-General for Translation. It can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/translation/writ...e_guide_en.pdf
- Larry
that I've been wondering about myself. I did some searching, and came up with a document called the <i>English Style Guide</i>, with the sub-title "A handbook for authors and translators in the European Commission".It includes the following:
§20.5 The currency abbreviation precedes the amount and is followed by a space:
EUR 2 400; USD 2 billion
However, currency symbols are closed up:
€120; £78; $100
§20.6 <i>Units and subunits.</i> Use a point to separate units from subunits:
€7.20; $50.75; EUR 2.4 billion; USD 1.8 billion
§20.7 <i>The euro.</i> Like 'pound', 'dollar' or any other currency name in English, the word 'euro' is written in lower case with no initial capital.
Guidelines on the use of the euro, issued via the Secretariat-General, state that the plurals of both 'euro' and 'cent' are to be written without an 's' in English. Do this when amending or referring to <i>legal</i> texts that themselves observe this rule. However, in all other texts, especially documents intended for the general public, use the natural plurals 'euros' and 'cents'.
In documents and tables where monetary amounts figure largely, make maximum use of the € symbol (closed up to the figure) or the abbreviation EUR before the amount.
-------
My own comment: note that this as considered to be a <i>language-specific</i> issue. The document is describing what to do in <i>English</i>. Therefore, it's not at all clear that it applies in other languages. As MollyBloom said, maybe it's country-specific. I'd love to see other comments on this.
But on Fodor's, we're posting in English. So this answers the question for me when I'm writing in English.
The document is from the European Commission, Directorate-General for Translation. It can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/translation/writ...e_guide_en.pdf
- Larry
Aug 17th, 2006, 04:57 PM
#48
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Some further research: the English Wikipedia page on the euro includes:
"Placement of the currency sign varies from nation to nation. While the official recommendation is to place it before the number (contraventing ISO general recommendation to place unit symbol after the number), people in many countries have kept the placement of their former currencies."
The French Wikipedia gives some more detail, showing how it would be done in English in Ireland (currency sign in front), in German in "Allemagne" (currency sign immediately after), and in French in France (currency sign after, but separated by a space):
"Le plus souvent, les prix sont affichées en décimales de l’euro ; par exemple « €0.05 » en Irlande, « 0.05€ » en Allemagne, « 0,05 € » en France)."
Note that other than a period, most punctuation in French is separated by a space. They write "Ça va ?", and not "Ça va?".
The French Wikipedia goes on to give other alternatives to the preferred 2,12 € French form:
"Il faut noter que le placement du symbole monétaire suit les conventions nationales, notamment en Espagne et en France où il semble illogique de placer le symbole de l’euro avant le nombre alors qu’on le prononce après. On note à ce sujet que le symbole monétaire est parfois inscrit à la place de la virgule décimale ; par exemple en France, « 2€12 » au lieu de « 2,12 € », et même assez souvent « 2€¹² » où les centimes sont indiqués en exposant sans indication du symbole du centime. La correction typographique préconise en français, la seule forme « 2,12 € »."
It notes above that " ... the placement of the monetary symbol follows national conventions, notably in Spain and France, where it seems illogical to place the euro symbol before the number when it is pronounced after." Of course, that doesn't seem to have stopped us in English, where we read $50 as "Fifty dollars" (which always seemed odd to me).
- Larry
"Placement of the currency sign varies from nation to nation. While the official recommendation is to place it before the number (contraventing ISO general recommendation to place unit symbol after the number), people in many countries have kept the placement of their former currencies."
The French Wikipedia gives some more detail, showing how it would be done in English in Ireland (currency sign in front), in German in "Allemagne" (currency sign immediately after), and in French in France (currency sign after, but separated by a space):
"Le plus souvent, les prix sont affichées en décimales de l’euro ; par exemple « €0.05 » en Irlande, « 0.05€ » en Allemagne, « 0,05 € » en France)."
Note that other than a period, most punctuation in French is separated by a space. They write "Ça va ?", and not "Ça va?".
The French Wikipedia goes on to give other alternatives to the preferred 2,12 € French form:
"Il faut noter que le placement du symbole monétaire suit les conventions nationales, notamment en Espagne et en France où il semble illogique de placer le symbole de l’euro avant le nombre alors qu’on le prononce après. On note à ce sujet que le symbole monétaire est parfois inscrit à la place de la virgule décimale ; par exemple en France, « 2€12 » au lieu de « 2,12 € », et même assez souvent « 2€¹² » où les centimes sont indiqués en exposant sans indication du symbole du centime. La correction typographique préconise en français, la seule forme « 2,12 € »."
It notes above that " ... the placement of the monetary symbol follows national conventions, notably in Spain and France, where it seems illogical to place the euro symbol before the number when it is pronounced after." Of course, that doesn't seem to have stopped us in English, where we read $50 as "Fifty dollars" (which always seemed odd to me).
- Larry
Sep 15th, 2006, 04:43 PM
#49
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Larry, you are a genius. After dinner, I'm doing back to the lkrakauer.home.comcast page to try out some of the things you suggested.
Even before I read your email address, I might have predicted that you were an MIT grad. As a Brandeis grad in sociology, I'd be great at telling you how people all around the world would FEEL about your instructions but your approach is so much more practical !!
NOTE: Since I haven't yet mastered your HTML advice yet (actually, I didn't even know what it stood for until now), I'm limited to expressing my appreciation in CAPS only.
Even before I read your email address, I might have predicted that you were an MIT grad. As a Brandeis grad in sociology, I'd be great at telling you how people all around the world would FEEL about your instructions but your approach is so much more practical !!
NOTE: Since I haven't yet mastered your HTML advice yet (actually, I didn't even know what it stood for until now), I'm limited to expressing my appreciation in CAPS only.
Sep 16th, 2006, 09:31 AM
#54
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If you good citizens ever need to find out the HTML character code for your favorite grapheme, I modestly suggest you google <b>html character code</b> and click the first reference. If that doesn't exceed the limit of your resourcefulness, of course.
The same site will provide such gems as the strikeout tag, <s>.
The same site will provide such gems as the strikeout tag, <s>.
Sep 16th, 2006, 10:03 AM
#56
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By the way, the character entity names missing from Larry's table are the following:
¹ &sup1; superscript 1
² &sup2; superscript 2
³ &sup3; superscript 3
¼ &frac14; fraction 1/4
½ &frac12; fraction 1/2
¾ &frac34; fraction 3/4
¹ &sup1; superscript 1
² &sup2; superscript 2
³ &sup3; superscript 3
¼ &frac14; fraction 1/4
½ &frac12; fraction 1/2
¾ &frac34; fraction 3/4
Sep 16th, 2006, 10:42 AM
#57
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"If that doesn't exceed the limit of your resourcefulness, of course.
The same site will provide such gems as the strikeout tag, <s>."
Thanks for the sarcasm, Robespierre, but I was only trying to answer nicely to this post, which obviously exceeds your limits! You should stick to scathing e-mails.
Thanks, again, Larry, for being a good citizen and attempting to do something nice for the good folks at Fodors. Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished (especially here). Alas!</s>
The same site will provide such gems as the strikeout tag, <s>."
Thanks for the sarcasm, Robespierre, but I was only trying to answer nicely to this post, which obviously exceeds your limits! You should stick to scathing e-mails.
Thanks, again, Larry, for being a good citizen and attempting to do something nice for the good folks at Fodors. Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished (especially here). Alas!</s>
Sep 16th, 2006, 03:32 PM
#59
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Dear Robespierre,
If Larry is a genius for knowing and sharing his knowledge of HTML, you might qualify as a genius for sarcasm based on your pleasant replies. For those of us not well versed in formatting, Larry's taking the time to write - and post - everything he did was extremely welcome and a huge help.
Too bad there's not yet any way of indicating irony in a posting but I would have figured that you, Robespierre, would have known that it was implied in my response.
Bah, humbug.
If Larry is a genius for knowing and sharing his knowledge of HTML, you might qualify as a genius for sarcasm based on your pleasant replies. For those of us not well versed in formatting, Larry's taking the time to write - and post - everything he did was extremely welcome and a huge help.
Too bad there's not yet any way of indicating irony in a posting but I would have figured that you, Robespierre, would have known that it was implied in my response.
Bah, humbug.
Sep 16th, 2006, 04:15 PM
#60
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Larry:
Thank you for taking the time to generously share formatting information...invaluable for all!
I wrote to your e-mail addresses from your web pages, personal stuff on Wayland, MIT, etc. I didn't want to hijack this posting that purpose.
Stu T.
L.A.
Thank you for taking the time to generously share formatting information...invaluable for all!
I wrote to your e-mail addresses from your web pages, personal stuff on Wayland, MIT, etc. I didn't want to hijack this posting that purpose.
Stu T.
L.A.
