I have been editing documents for a while here recently at work before they go out and have repeatedly pointed out that every time the people who wrote it bulleted out points they tended to only have 2 points. I distinctly remember learning in college that bulleted lists or enumerated lists should contain at least three points otherwise it isn’t correct.
My coworker says this isn’t correct however neither of us can find documentation proving our points. I read through his voluminous secretarial guide (Webster’s) and it did not address the issue at all. However, all of the examples in it contained three points.
Anyway, which of us is correct? He says 2 points make a list, I say 3 points make a list. Also, please show me where to find it so I can either rub his face in it, or he can rub mine in it.
I still thought most of the stylized things like that were formally written out in places such as the Chicago Manual of Style. Is this something I just dreamed up somewhere?
According to The Business Writer’s Handbook, Fourth Edition,
There is no mention in the entire entry for Lists that says you have to have more than two items. Indeed, it does not mention a minimum number of items at all; one could infer that a list with one item is acceptable.
I was always led to believe that bullets were used to emphasize any particular points you wanted to make, regardless of number. I cannot locate an on-line, complete style manual, so I’m not 100% on that, but I believe you’re in the clear.
It has always seemed to me that a 2-item “list,” as in the points in a presentation, is unsatisfactory. I keep waiting for the third point. It sort of seems like a story that needs a beginning, middle and end. In any case, as others say, I don’t think it is a matter a a rule.
