MetaChat - phone # separators: dots or dashes?

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13 January 2008

phone # separators: dots or dashes? why? (225.6836 or 225-6836?)

post by: shane at: 22:14 | 32 comments

"." is one keypress on my phone. "-" is two. So I just keep it standard across platforms.

posted by Eideteker 13 January | 22:43

i generally dot unless forced to dash.

posted by ethylene 13 January | 22:46

More often than not, I don't bother separating the number.

posted by jjb 13 January | 22:49

Big fan of dashes here.

posted by AwkwardPause 13 January | 22:50

Great! C'mon, pony up your feedback, folks! This is an important issue that truly defines who we are in the human scheme of things!

Okay, maybe not, but the question still bugs me irrationally.

posted by shane 13 January | 22:58

I use spaces: 787 234 7842

posted by Ardiril 13 January | 23:08

Dash. A number with a dot is a floating-point number.

posted by eamondaly 13 January | 23:09

The dot seems to be standard for Europe (and possibly other places). The dash seems to be standard for the U.S. (and possibly other places). The travel guides I've worked for compromised by using spaces. I tend to use spaces, because I'm used to it; I prefer dots, but I think they look a bit pretentious in the U.S. (except, weirdly, on business cards).

posted by occhiblu 13 January | 23:22

From a design point of view I prefer dots or spaces.

posted by gomichild 13 January | 23:23

I use dots because it's somehow easier for my fingers to reach down to the period on a keyboard than up to the dash.

posted by Lassie 13 January | 23:47

Anyone still use parens for area codes? (202) 555-1212?
*crickets chirp*

posted by Joe Invisible 13 January | 23:58

I don't use parenthesis, but I do use dashes, mostly because that's the way I was taught to do it.

I do however think dots look better than dashes when it's a European number.

posted by CitrusFreak12 14 January | 00:20

I think dots look better and are more consistent than dashes, which can vary in length. When handwriting numbers I've always preferred the format

505
555
1234

stacked up on three lines like that. Way easier to read and remember, for some reason.

posted by Miko 14 January | 00:23

My cell automatically pops in dashes, but on the internet, I put spaces or string it all together.

posted by sperose 14 January | 00:25

Dots! They are the prettiest.

555.555.5555

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 14 January | 00:36

Anyone still use parens for area codes?

You know, I think I stopped liking dashes when people stopped using parentheses. (202) 555-1212 looks nice; 202-555-1212 doesn't look good to me.

posted by occhiblu 14 January | 00:42

I use dots because I like the way they look.

posted by smich 14 January | 00:59

phone numbers here usually look like this:

555 55.51.234

or this:

555 5551234

I think the first way is easier on the eyes, and easier to remember. Aesthetically, I definitely prefer dots to dashes.

posted by taz 14 January | 02:15

Swedish numbers are oftenest punctuated with a dash between the area code and the rest of the number, which in turn is split up with spaces, for example:

0123-456 78
08-765 43 21

I prefer dashes to dots, which, to my mind, are best confined to floating point numbers & IP addresses.

posted by misteraitch 14 January | 04:10

The official recommendation of the International Telecommunications Union is to use spaces, so that's what I do.

posted by grouse 14 January | 07:09

Also, dots are very seldom used in UK phone numbers, but are (I think) the norm in Italy & France.

posted by misteraitch 14 January | 07:16

I still use dashes, and the parentheses. I remember back in the day, NYC used to have the first two digits of a phone number be letters: like CH(for Chelsea)4-9876. occasionally, if you eat at an old restaurant, the number will still be printed that way on menus and such.

posted by jonmc 14 January | 07:44

Dots or spaces. Miko's got a good point with the 3 line way.

posted by chewatadistance 14 January | 08:18

Dots. Since it's the most universally acceptable format for numeric coding (dates, dollars...), it keeps everything very neat and tight on a page.

There's something to be said for coding things in such a way that they're instantly recognizable because of the format, but I won't listen to it.

posted by pokermonk 14 January | 09:31

I always preferred the village name followed by a three digit number.

My phone number actually used to be "Hemswell 369"

posted by seanyboy 14 January | 10:23

Yay seanyboy, an excuse to share one of my long-favorite links, Old Telephone Exchanges.

posted by Miko 14 January | 11:56

dots for design as well as speed on a muberpad.

posted by Ambrosia Voyeur 14 January | 12:31

Dots for aesthetics as well. Although if I'm using the keypad on my keyboard, my fingers still want to reach up for the dash.

posted by rhapsodie 14 January | 13:22

I like parentheses and dashes because it's the way I was taught, plus it always outs the number as American. (That and the last 4 digits being lumped together.)

That said, if I'm in a hurry I use dots because it's easier for me on the 10-key pad.

posted by small_ruminant 14 January | 14:34

Dots or spaces for the pretty.

posted by deborah 14 January | 14:36

dawts, absolutely.

posted by pliskie 15 January | 06:17

The official recommendation of the International Telecommunications Union is to use spaces, so that's what I do.

When jotting a number down on scratch paper, it's not always possible to leave clear spaces. At least with my handwriting. So I'll keep using the dots.

posted by Eideteker 15 January | 07:17

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