# phone number formatting **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009 "2005-07-11T16:23:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/21 "2005-07-11T21:53:31Z")
I like the decimals from the style point of view. When I worked at a print shop about half of cards had hyphens and most of the other half used periods or spaces. I like how periods look becase they seperate the numbers, but don’t distract your eye from the numbers. (Of course if you’re a more math-minded person you’re going to think that periods mean decimal numbers and I’m some artsy flake!) Also bullets are used once in a while, and sometimes dashes (403/555/5440) on the more daring designs. Some things I never saw seperating numbers were commas and asterisks. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/22 "2005-07-12T02:13:11Z")
The ITU is the international body in charge of telephone numbers and formats. They have 2 relevant standards, E.123 and E.164. You can read more about them at [http://www.numberingplans.com](http://www.numberingplans.com) . I seem to recall a US Federal standard that was put out a few years ago suggesting the new preferred US format is 123.456.7890. But my Googling couldn’t find any evidence of it just now. Personally, I don’t like usings dots in phone numbers. With a typical proportional font, the dot character is so narrow it just looks like 10 digits run together. I’d rather we use a - or a space, something that’s got enough width to clearly separate the groups. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/23 "2005-07-12T02:32:30Z")
I first encountered the style with decimals when I became a graphic designer; it was regarded as sort of European-looking, and therefore sophisticated. I like it; it’s clean, and easy to type on the numeric keypad. But now I work in a stuffier corporate culture, so I go with dashes, because I don’t have to use both hands to type it in. I’m all about effeciency. Plus, I’ve become a sloppy typist, so half the time I miss the shift key on one of the parenthesis, and I end up with a messed-up phone number. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/24 "2005-07-12T04:01:14Z")
Who says the Dope doesn’t influence the media? 🙂 This thread created: 7/11/05, 12:23 PM [This news article](http://news.yahoo.com/s/krwashbureau/20050711/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_dotdash_wa_1) appears: 7/11/05, 3:53 PM ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/25 "2005-07-12T11:25:57Z")
I prefer (123) 555-1212. The thing I hate about decimals is that it just does not look right. If you have any respect for mathematics, you would not construct a string with more than one decimal point. It just isn’t how numbers are supposed to look. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/26 "2005-07-12T12:06:37Z")
alright, well i fought hard but in the end i was reminded that i’m just a peon who should stick to doing what he’s told - quietly. although it was enlightening to hear that they use this format in the UK - we were recently (relatively) purchased and our new parent company is (shocker!) based in the UK. **hal** : nice link, i included it with my concession email to the powers that be (along with my _new_ signature. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/27 "2005-07-12T12:17:23Z")
I politely object to the use of the word _retarded_ as a pejorative. Retardation is a developmental disabilty. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/28 "2005-07-12T12:23:32Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I prefer (123) 555-1212. > > The thing I hate about decimals is that it just does not look right. If you have any respect for mathematics, you would not construct a string with more than one decimal point. It just isn’t how numbers are supposed to look. IP addresses must give you hives. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/29 "2005-07-12T13:29:48Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > IP addresses must give you hives. Not really. I hardly ever see the IP addresses so I don’t worry about them. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/30 "2005-07-12T13:40:40Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > “Oooo! 123.456.7890 makes it kinda look like an IP address! K-rad!” That’s precisely the reason I hate people who use decimals to separate a telephone number. I work with IP addresses all day. If I see a number that goes 123.456.78.90 or anything similar, I have trouble comprehending it as a phone number. We’re a global company, so the numbers on peoples sigs over here are usually +61 2 3456 7890, or more commonly just the extension number. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/31 "2005-07-12T13:59:31Z")
I started using the decimal format on my Palm because the decimals were easy to enter using Graffitti and take up less space than dashes, which was actually important in the phonebook application I used to keep the number from splitting over two lines when I had the text size turned to large to make it easier to read in low light. Since then, I kept doing it, partly out of habit, and partly because it looks nice and clean, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009/32 "2005-07-12T14:12:22Z")
In Israel, people usually write the seven numbers without any spacing, just 5551212. If you have to call another area code, they use a dash. Jerusalem is 02-5551212, Tel Aviv is 03-5551212, etc. I usually use a dot if I’m typing, I find it easier to get when I’m using ten-key. If I’m writing longhand, I’ll use a dash. I don’t really feel strongly about it either way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phone-number-formatting/312009.md?page=1)