# When did we stop putting commas in large numbers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 9, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099 "2011-08-09T16:48:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/1 "2011-08-09T16:48:42Z")
You know – 3,000 has become 3000, etc. Are we too cool for commas now? I think they make the number easier to “read”. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/2 "2011-08-09T16:55:58Z")
I still see the commas in most contexts. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/3 "2011-08-09T16:57:41Z")
Most of us didn’t. However, the 22nd General Conference on Weights and Measures (2003 Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures), decided to replace the comma with a space because lots of languages use commas to denote decimal points. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/4 "2011-08-09T16:58:04Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > You know – 3,000 has become 3000, etc. > > Are we too cool for commas now? I think they make the number easier to “read”. I’m going to guess “computers”. Commas are meaningless (and potentially a problem) when entering numbers into a computer program/website, so are not used, and that eventually carried over into general number writing. I agree, the commas do make the numbers easier to read. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/5 "2011-08-09T16:58:16Z")
the numbers are 3000, 35 362 and 3 562 035. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/6 "2011-08-09T16:58:48Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > You know – 3,000 has become 3000, etc. > > Are we too cool for commas now? I think they make the number easier to “read”. I was raised on spaces instead of commas. I believe that this is the standard for countries where the comma is used as the decimal separator. But, four digit numbers were an exception. I don’t recall anyone ever writing “3 000” or “3,000”. It was only for five digits or higher that the rule was applied. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/7 "2011-08-09T17:03:37Z")
We did? Here’s what I found poking around various recent U.S. news stories: From Chicago Tribune/Reuters: > [@](#): > > Administration officials say the costs to the industry are negligible. To upgrade a tractor trailer truck, for example, will cost $6,220 but will save an estimated $73,000 dollars in the lifetime of the truck. > > For pickup trucks and vans the costs could be around $1,050, and for vocational vehicles just $380. From Fox News: > [@](#): > > A total of $45,000 in reward money is being offered in the search for a 3-year-old southeast Missouri girl missing since Saturday. The FBI is offering $25,000, and the Senath Marshal’s office is offering $20,000 in the effort to find BreeAnn Rodriguez. From [MTV.com](http://MTV.com): > [@](#): > > With 90,000 in attendance on a steamy, muddy day, it looked like at least 60,000 or more of those bodies were packed in as far as the eye could see to get a glimpse of [Eminem]'s Lolla debut. From the Christian Science Monitor: > [@](#): > > For SEALs, the shoot-down was a special blow, as they lost at a stroke about 1 percent of the total 2,500 SEAL operator population. The only numbers with 4 digits or more that I could find consistently without commas were years (of course) and, interestingly, stock market indices. ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/8 "2011-08-09T18:16:33Z")
The space may do in print, but newsflash, pens and pencils still exist. I really dislike numbers jammed together as often asked to imput to a computer. As for telephone numbers, I like 1-800-555-1212. I see no reason to change to 1.800.555.1212. It looks like a pointy hair way of looking high tech. A pox on computers that demand 18005551212. Too an extent, I try to accomadate the rest of the world in some stuff, accepting the metric system and day month year, but intend to keep my commas. To prevent confusion I usually do dates as 08aug11. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/9 "2011-08-09T19:08:07Z")
> [@](#): > > To prevent confusion I usually do dates as 08aug11. Me too, but I use four-digit years. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/10 "2011-08-09T20:06:41Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > I really dislike numbers jammed together as often asked to imput to a computer. As for telephone numbers, I like 1-800-555-1212. I see no reason to change to 1.800.555.1212. It looks like a pointy hair way of looking high tech. A pox on computers that demand 18005551212. I kinda like interpuncts: 1·800·555·1212. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/11 "2011-08-09T20:28:35Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Too an extent, I try to accomadate the rest of the world in some stuff, accepting the metric system and day month year, but intend to keep my commas. To prevent confusion I usually do dates as 08aug11. Yeah, 08-08-11 would be confusing - do you mean English or American style? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/12 "2011-08-09T20:35:14Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > You know – 3,000 has become 3000, etc. > > Are we too cool for commas now? I think they make the number easier to “read”. Please cite where this is occurring. In some jurisdictions (primarily parts of Latin America), the “.” is used in place of the “,” for the 000’s separator. But the concept of using a 000’s separator has not gone away. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/13 "2011-08-09T20:38:46Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > To prevent confusion I usually do dates as 08aug11. Out of context, I would read that as the 11th of August, 2008, but I’ll bet that’s not what you meant. Take Chrono’s advice :). ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/14 "2011-08-09T21:31:32Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > … As for telephone numbers, I like 1-800-555-1212. I see no reason to change to 1.800.555.1212. It looks like a pointy hair way of looking high tech. A pox on computers that demand 18005551212. > [@spark240](#): > > I kinda like interpuncts: 1·800·555·1212. 1 (800) 555-1212 Old school! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/15 "2011-08-09T21:38:54Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’m going to guess “computers”. Commas are meaningless (and potentially a problem) when entering numbers into a computer program/website, so are not used, and that eventually carried over into general number writing. > > I agree, the commas do make the numbers easier to read. It is really trivial to get a program or a web form to accept commas, though, and strip them out for internal use (and even to put them back in again for display). I don’t really understand why this is not routinely done. I also do not understand why most web forms will not accept things like credit card and phone numbers if they are entered with the spaces in them that are there for readability on the card itself, or as phone numbers are usually written. It is really lazy programming. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/16 "2011-08-09T21:43:16Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Commas are meaningless (and potentially a problem) when entering numbers into a computer program/website, so are not used It’s probably fair to say “commonly not used”, but that’s certainly not always the case. I write code almost every day that displays numbers with commas. And I strip them from input where meaningless separators are likely. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/17 "2011-08-09T21:53:41Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I also do not understand why most web forms will not accept things like credit card and phone numbers if they are entered with the spaces in them that are there for readability on the card itself, or as phone numbers are usually written. It is really lazy programming. Yeah that sort of thing is a pet peeve of mine (though I probably do it sometimes). At the high end I suspect it comes from the way code is developed: the analyst writes a spec that says “this input field accepts 16 numeric digits”. The coders know it’d be trivial to strip extraneous chars, but that’s not what the spec says, and not what the testers will check. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/18 "2011-08-09T22:27:50Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > The space may do in print, but newsflash, pens and pencils still exist. I was taught with pens and pencils, and the space. It’s easy enough to make the groups distinct if you’re not writing in complete chicken scratch. A bigger problem is word processors that aren’t smart enough to make the space between digit groups non-breaking, and end up splitting the number over a line. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/19 "2011-08-09T23:32:31Z")
It’s 2,011 and we’re still working on this? ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099/20 "2011-08-10T00:37:31Z")
As somebody who works for a cell phone company, I don’t care if you format with hyphens, periods, spaces, or parentheses, but please, please stop putting a one before the area code. That’s not part of the phone number, that’s the button you hit for long-distance service on a landline. And _that’s_ why your outgoing texts keep failing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-stop-putting-commas-in-large-numbers/592099.md?page=2)