50-ohm vs. # symbol

[Rick Lippincott <rjl -at- BOSTECH -dot- COM>]

Dan Voss said:

>The 50-ohm discussion has been interesting, but I really don't see where the
>hyphen is even remotely negotiable.  Any standard Freshman Composition textbook
>(e.g., the venerable Harbrace) would clearly identify this example as a 14-
>carat unit modifier, which MUST take a hyphen.  Period.  End of discussion.
>--Conan the Grammarian


And I'd tend to agree.

Except.....

Every example cited, and every example I've seen, has been in the
following format:

(Numeral) (hyphen) (descriptive WORD) (noun).

For example, "14-carat gold", ".22-caliber round" or "3-hour tour."

But the original question involved a different format:

(Numeral) (hyphen) (SYMBOL) (noun) vs.
(Numberal) (space) (SYMBOL) (noun)

It's been tough to keep that in mind, as we're all dealing with e-mail
systems that prevent us from displaying the ohm (or any other) symbol.

None of the sources or examples seem to deal with this. Except, of
course, this one obscure example that's been popping up in another
thread. The pound sign. There have been at least two contributors who
have said "#" indicates pounds of weight when used in the context "25#"
(note the lack of a hyphen).

If I recall correctly, the proper way to designate the focal length of
a lens is "150mm" and not "150-mm."

And finally, how do -we- indicate a file size?  Generally, "750K", but not
"750-K."

Our own usage suggests the proper answer to the original question
should have been "None of the above." The convention we all seem to
be following is:

(Numeral)(Symbol)

Which would imply the correct answer to the original question would be:

50[uom] resistor

No hyphen, no space.

And no rule to back up the theory....

Rick Lippincott
Boston Technology
Wakefield, MA
rjl -at- bostech -dot- com