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In the UK it's called a hash sign and isn't (or is rarely) used to indicate a number. No. is much more commonly used.
But that was only one example you gave...
My own pet hate is where multi-word labels are shortened to the point of incomprehensibility. To my mind, calling a field 'Patient Number' and consistently labelling it as such is preferable to calling it, perhaps more precisely, 'Patient Account Number' and then abbreviating that to 'Pat Acct #' whenever it's referred to.
If it *must* be called 'Patient Account Number' then I'm for rearranging the form to make room for the label in its entirety.
But that's only an opinion and I have no evidence whatsoever to back it up :)
Viv
> From: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com
> To: Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com; cmagadieu -at- gmail -dot- com; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Labels on forms: Abbreviate or use symbols?
> Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:15:58 -0500
>
> To follow what Leonard was saying....the number sign "#" we all use is
> really called an "octothorpe." However, it's a lot easier to say "number
> sign," unless you're deep in the middle of a trivia game and you're
> loosing....
>
> Al Geist
> Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
> Office/Msg: 802-872-9190
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> "...I walked to work, quit my job, and kept walking. Better to be a pilgrim
> without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold each
> day." (Sy Safransky)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+al -dot- geist=geistassociates -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+al -dot- geist=geistassociates -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Leonard C. Porrello
> Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 11:09 AM
> To: Cheryl Magadieu; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Labels on forms: Abbreviate or use symbols?
>
> On one hand, I don't like it as what you (and most Americans) are calling a
> "pound sign" is known as a "hash sign" ("hash symbol," etc.) to the rest of
> the world. It is unlike symbols such as the ampersand (which is synonymous
> with "and"). It also isn't pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, # is
> widely recognized to mean "number."
>
> Leonard
>
> BTW, here is an actual "pound sign": £.
>
>
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