### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/1 "2009-02-09T05:22:52Z")
I’ve been noticing more and more people placing the percent sign in front of the number instead of after it: “%100” instead of “100%”. I’ve even seen it used this way in programs, and here on the SDMB.
Where did this usage come from? Is it a regional or non-English usage that has made its way to these Canadian shores?
---
### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/2 "2009-02-09T05:26:57Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> I’ve been noticing more and more people placing the percent sign in front of the number instead of after it: “%100” instead of “100%”. I’ve even seen it used this way in programs, and here on the SDMB.
>
> Where did this usage come from? Is it a regional or non-English usage that has made its way to these Canadian shores?
I can’t say I’ve ever seen it; what I’ve noticed instead, though, is people for whom English is a first language writing “100$” instead of “$100”.
---
### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/3 "2009-02-09T05:48:14Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#):
>
> I can’t say I’ve ever seen it; what I’ve noticed instead, though, is people for whom English is a first language writing “100$” instead of “$100”.
I’m willing to bet that they’re from Quebec; that’s a common usage there. It’s ultimately from the French.
It corresponds to the spoken English phrasing more accurately as well, and is similar to the way we write other units (“15 kg”, for example). The “$ 100” usage is actually less logical IMO.
---
### Author:  [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/4 "2009-02-09T06:25:03Z")
Never seen it before. Just one more annoying thing to throw on the pile.
Joe
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/5 "2009-02-09T06:56:29Z")
It’s probably based off of the dollar-sign thing. I can remember that there’s one of those above-the-numbers symbols that goes on the wrong side of the numbers it’s next to, but I have to stop and think to remember which one it is. Why is “One hundred dollars” written as “$100”, anyway?
---
### Author:  [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/6 "2009-02-09T07:34:31Z")
There is a lack of standardisation in (particularly) Europe regarding the use of the decimal place (a comma can be used), so an unambiguous form that is increasingly used is unit\decimal - so **5€49** is very (and increasingly) common. I have yet to see this in the UK _5£99_, but I am sure it will follow.
To be fair, though, this notation was common in electronics for a very long time - 1K5 for a 1500 ohm resistor (British Standard 1852, from 1974).
Si
---
### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/7 "2009-02-09T07:59:32Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> I’m willing to bet that they’re from Quebec; that’s a common usage there. It’s ultimately from the French.
>
> It corresponds to the spoken English phrasing more accurately as well, and is similar to the way we write other units (“15 kg”, for example). The “$ 100” usage is actually less logical IMO.
That’s possible but Australia isn’t noted for its high population of Quebecois. 😉
And don’t get me started on the whole “comma versus decimal point” thing, either- IMO the _ONLY_ acceptable decimal place marker in English is the Decimal Point and I don’t care what the EU has to say on the subject unless they’re agreeing with me.:mad:
---
### Author:  [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/8 "2009-02-09T08:15:31Z")
Decimal place markers are a matter of paralinguistic convention. It’s almost as silly to demand that everyone uses yours as it is to ask the Spanish to throw away all that upside-down punctuation for your own convenience.
Hostile Dialect,
Hostile Dialect, Narcissist
---
### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/9 "2009-02-09T08:24:48Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#):
>
> Decimal place markers are a matter of paralinguistic convention. It’s almost as silly to demand that everyone uses yours as it is to ask the Spanish to throw away all that upside-down punctuation for your own convenience.
>
> Hostile Dialect,
> Hostile Dialect, Narcissist
I said _in English_. If the French and the Spanish and the Italians and the Germans want to use commas for decimal places, fine. But as soon as it’s translated into English, I expect to see a decimal point there.
---
### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/10 "2009-02-09T09:06:50Z")
Just so you do not think you are going crazy, I also saw the **%100** thing somewhere very recently. I can’t for the life of me remember where, but if I was forced at knifepoint to guess, I would say it was actually on these boards. If so, perhaps the person who does it will come along and explain. I certainly have no idea where it comes from or why. It is quite new to me and, unlike 100$, it does not even correspond to the way we say percentages. It did not seem to be an error though. I think it occurred more than once in the same piece.
---
### Author:  [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/11 "2009-02-09T10:39:13Z")
I use the % sign so infrequently that I often type %100 rather than 100%, when typing quickly, only to have to correct it upon proofreading. Having one set of symbols that go to the right of a number, and another to the left, is pretty stupid, though.
---
### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/12 "2009-02-09T12:23:12Z")
I did a search on “%100” here on these boards: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=4067435](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=4067435). There were a surprising number of hits.
---
### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/13 "2009-02-09T12:48:58Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> I did a search on “%100” here on these boards: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=4067435](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=4067435). There were a surprising number of hits.
Teh will come up a surprising number of time, but it’s still wrong. %100 is wrong too.
---
### Author:  [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/14 "2009-02-09T13:03:43Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#):
>
> Teh will come up a surprising number of time, but it’s still wrong. %100 is wrong too.
Perhaps. It’s just often enough that I wondered whether it _isn’t_ wrong… somewhere.
---
### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/15 "2009-02-09T13:14:33Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> Perhaps. It’s just often enough that I wondered whether it _isn’t_ wrong… somewhere.
I was commenting on the fact that when it shows up on the message board it doesn’t make it correct. In the USA it’s wrong. In some other country it might be correct.
---
### Author:  [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/16 "2009-02-09T14:30:44Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#):
>
> Teh will come up a surprising number of time, but it’s still wrong. %100 is wrong too.
So is the plural of “time” without an ‘s’. But can you show me your crown, O Language King?
Hostile Dialect,
Hostile Dialect, Narcissist
---
### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/17 "2009-02-09T16:16:02Z")
In ancient times (I was born in 1949) schoolteachers told us #12 is "number twelve, and 12# is "twelve pounds. I don’t know when that fell out of fashion, but it’s rare today. More often, you hear people ask why “the pound key” is called that. Some know to call it an octothorp, but others think Octothorp was one of the early settlers in the state of Georgia.
---
### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/18 "2009-02-09T16:23:51Z")
> [@AskNott](#):
>
> Some know to call it an octothorp…
There’s no single ‘correct’ name for it. See [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octothorp#Other_names_in_English) for some of the options.
---
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/19 "2009-02-09T16:27:08Z")
Never seen it. I would assume it’s a typo, if it weren’t apparently so widespread. But it’s wrong, IMHO.
---
### Author:  [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017/20 "2009-02-09T17:07:17Z")
> [@Sunspace](#):
>
> I’m willing to bet that they’re from Quebec; that’s a common usage there. It’s ultimately from the French.
>
> It corresponds to the spoken English phrasing more accurately as well, and is similar to the way we write other units (“15 kg”, for example). The “$ 100” usage is actually less logical IMO.
Many languages actually place the currency symbol after the value. Australia being a mainly English-speaking country, I’d assume 100 would be the most common form, but many Australians, possibly those who do business with people in Asia (?), may have acquired the forms 100 or 100 $.
[
> [@Wikipedia on Currency sign](#):
>
> When writing currency amounts the location of the sign varies by currency. Many currencies, especially in Latin America and the English-speaking world, place it before the amount (e.g., £50.00); many others place it after the amount (e.g., 50.00 S₣); and, before they were abolished, the sign for the Portuguese Escudo and the French Franc were placed in the decimal position (i.e., 50$00 or 12₣34). The standardized European default placement, used in absence of a national standard, is that (€) is placed before the amount. However, many Eurozone countries have sustained or generated alternative conventions.
]([Currency symbol - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_sign))
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-100-usage-of-the-percent-sign-come-from/485017.md?page=2)