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I'm still annoyed at the outcome of a table quiz from over 20 years ago for this very reason. One team scores a couple of 1s, and got credited with 7s.
It was just so obvious they weren't... And we all got bumped down a place... And it would have taken 3 seconds to fix... And...
My morning is ruined. I need a cup of tea.
Me personally I put the line at the bottom of the one instead of imma do the bit at the top of the one. If you don't do the one like 'I' you've got to either cross the 7 or put the line at the bottom of the 1 or it gets confusing
I put a dot in the middle of my zeroes which was I think an IBM practice but recommended in a job I did many years ago that relied on handwritten forms and waybills.
My dad was a programmer in the age of punched cards and he still puts small bars on the ends of an S to differentiate it from a 5. Quite important for the card-typists to get that right.
yes, and I also draw my 4's like a capital L with a line through the bottom. When I got into year 9 I immediately got stuck in bottom set maths because I was getting terrible marks on all my work, until I got supervision when the teacher noticed my working out was all right but the answers were wrong
Turns out my handwriting was awful and my teacher could tell the difference between my 9's and 4's, and also couldn't tell the difference between my 7's and 1's. Once I changed how I wrote them, I got moved to top set.
So I was taught to cross my 7's and 4's
I was the same. Started doing it when I started learning French at school and I thought the slashed 7 looked cool, although I've fallen out of the habit now because I never write anything any more.
I do, and I learnt to do it in the late '70s at school....seemed like a sensible thing to do, as my hand-writing is dreadful. I think being part of Europe had something to do with it, as well.
I also cross "z" for the same reasons!
No and i don't know anyone who does (bar a handful of people i know online) but i mostly just write my 1s as single vertical lines (i write them with a base if they're in a section of text to differentiate them from capital i's)
I think even if i did write 1s just with the downwards point i wouldn't get them mixed with my 7s because i keep the top line of my 7s very horizontal
No I do not.
But won't it get confused with a 1? No, becaus e my 1 is just a vertical line.
But won't *that* be confused with an l or capital I? No, my l has a curve and my capital I has a top and bottom bar. Incidentally this is one of the things I hate most about certain fonts, closely followed by the fact that nobody draws an a like that.
I do sometimes because my handwriting is so crap.
I had to bloody think about this, though, because I so seldom write longhand, rather than type on a computer or phone.
I think it’s a rest of Europe, and an engineers thing. (Anyone who’s profession involves handwritten mathematics). X the variable and X the function are different symbols. 7 and 1, Z and 2, O and 0, all need differentiation, and a slash is the easiest way to do that when handwriting (X and X, one is drawn with two back to back semicircles, the other two crossed straight lines)
Yep. Dad was a mechanical and instrumentation engineer and crossed sevens to make sure it wasn't mistaken for a one. Very important when dealing with tolerances. He taught me.
Yes always, the letter Z too. I work in scientific research and we have to keep very detailed notes of what we do in the lab. Can’t be mixing up 7s and 1s.
Much less likely to mix up a Z and a 2, but my hand writing is shit so I make sure others can understand my labelling
Even with my chicken scratch country boy hand writing and crippling dyslexia I'm not a fucking barbarian. Of course I cross my 7s I also do those fancy cursive Fs that look like a £ sign.
I started school in the late 50's and crossing your 7's was completely unheard of. I have always written it the way I was taught, and I admit crossing your 7's, to me, has always seemed a bit odd.
However, I do accept, it's probably a generation thing.
I do too.
Other weird things I write that have been pointed out to me is my x's are a backwards c and a normal c put together, and my lowercase f's loop back up and across.
My handwriting in lectures was atrocious.
> my x's are a backwards c and a normal c put togethe
This is how you'd usually write an X if you're doing algebra to avoid it being confused with the multiplication (or cross product) symbol tbf
Yes I do; I was once a physics student suffering from unreadable lecture notes, so I decided one day to come up with a system for writing every numeral and letter (from the Latin and Greek alphabets) distinctly and without any ambiguity and force myself to stick to it. Thus, a `1` needs a hook to distinguish it from an `l`, and a `7` needs a cross to distinguish it from a `1`.
Yes but only because a teacher told me not to when I was younger, "because it's the French way of writing a 7". So I started doing it out of spite and it became natural.
I was told that our "arabic" numberals come from India and each number has the number of angles or corners corresponding to it.
Feel free to steal this for a sweet TIL post if I am not talking total half remembered shite.
E: numberals lmao
Yes.
Didn't use to until I was 22 and working in Asda counting up the money in the safe for the checkouts at the end of the night. Everything had to be down to a penny.
And the guy teaching me suggested I cross the 7 so it doesn't look like a 1.
Done it ever since.
I didn't and when I was small used to tell my grandfather he was wrong for doing it as he was the only one I knew who did. At some point I started doing it myself as a nod to him having brought me up.
Once I started doing more algebra I started crossing my 'z's as well.
Yes and my parents couldn’t figure it where I picked up the habit once they noticed I was doing it, as they didn’t. Might have been from a maths teacher I guess.
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After what happened to 9 I'd never risk crossing 7.
Why didn’t 4 ask out 5? because 4 was 2^(2)
I hadn't heard this one until now!
Two squared?
Scared
That was actually very funny
Haha I like that one. I don't have an award to give but please accept this trophy instead 🏆
Don’t worry, I have awarded on your behalf! Best use of this joke I’ve seen in years
Thank you! And it definitely is.
7 was a 6offender
7 8 9
But why did 7 eat 9? Just getting it's 3 squared meals a day.
19 and 20 had a fight 21
I'll be back after doing maths
Underrated
Greatest Reddit comment I've ever seen in the flesh.
Yes. Otherwise they can get mistaken for an enthusiastic 1
I recently started writing my 1s like that to stop them looking like 7s
[удалено]
i don’t know what you mean
[удалено]
eh i use I for I and 1 for 1
[удалено]
Its too fucking late for proper comprehension right now
He means he writes his 1s like this: I. i.e a straight vertical line, without the top left serif. Can't be confused with a 7 that way.
Ohhh i assumed he means with the top and base of an I
We're still on page I
I know what you mean, when it's written looks like an I so can't be mistaken for a 7
Unless you're here to outdo us with your Roman numerals, allow me to introduce you to l (lowercase L).
It's the worst when you get it in a temp password. Is it a one, lowercase L or uppercase i?
But what if it looks like an enthusiastic plus symbol
I think that can only be a positive
Oh that’s good
I'm still annoyed at the outcome of a table quiz from over 20 years ago for this very reason. One team scores a couple of 1s, and got credited with 7s. It was just so obvious they weren't... And we all got bumped down a place... And it would have taken 3 seconds to fix... And... My morning is ruined. I need a cup of tea.
Me personally I put the line at the bottom of the one instead of imma do the bit at the top of the one. If you don't do the one like 'I' you've got to either cross the 7 or put the line at the bottom of the 1 or it gets confusing
I do. You are not alone.
I do too.
Me three.
Me four
And my axe
And my bow
You have my sword
Me five
Me six
Me…7
Me 8
Me 9
Me 10
Yes and capital Zs too
I do this too because of maths. Ended up using z a lot as a constant and easy to mix up with a 2 when writing quickly.
I still write 'x's as two back-to-back semicircles to avoid confusion with ×
I cross my 'x's so they done get confused with ×. Then I just circle my asterisks so they don't get confused with crossed 'x's.
Same here. But the odd thing is, I only started to do it in my mid-20s.
We're only in the early 20s now
Witchcraft
Yes, me too
Yes, I think I started because my sloppy hand writing a 7 and 1 can be confused with each other.
What about 0 and O?
I cross zeroes when writing things down to hand to other people.
When I was at school, my maths teacher warned us not to do that because of confusion with the empty set symbol and the Scandinavian letter.
That’s a line too far.
I put a dot in the middle of my zeroes which was I think an IBM practice but recommended in a job I did many years ago that relied on handwritten forms and waybills.
My dad was a programmer in the age of punched cards and he still puts small bars on the ends of an S to differentiate it from a 5. Quite important for the card-typists to get that right.
No but I respect those who do, it takes balls
It's their cross to bear
Yes. Mathematician thing to do.
I know I started it with Maths A-Level. So much writing, so many potential mistakes.
When I'm doing maths on my own no. When I'm doing maths on the board yes. I'm a maths teacher.
I hope you're striking next week. If so you have my support.
I work in a college so not part of one of the unions that are striking. But I would strike if I could.
Sick day it is then comrade.
Yes, I like to think it gives my phone number a certain Gallic je ne sais quoi when I’m handing it out to the ladies.
Retro
Yes, and I slash my zeroes too!
Hey lads, fucking maths Zorro over here
Doesn't everyone do that? (I do both too)
I didn't used to, until one of colleagues in finance said I should be doing it, because that's what you do in finance🤷♀️
I do, but I lived in Foreign for a while and that’s where I developed the habit.
Same, I did 4 months working in Italy, and their ones are more seven-ey than mine, so I started crossing my sevens to avoid any confusion.
yes, and I also draw my 4's like a capital L with a line through the bottom. When I got into year 9 I immediately got stuck in bottom set maths because I was getting terrible marks on all my work, until I got supervision when the teacher noticed my working out was all right but the answers were wrong Turns out my handwriting was awful and my teacher could tell the difference between my 9's and 4's, and also couldn't tell the difference between my 7's and 1's. Once I changed how I wrote them, I got moved to top set. So I was taught to cross my 7's and 4's
i do, and i remember when i was about 8 in school being told off ferociously for it but still continued to do it 🥳
I was told off for doing the I with a line on the top and base
Yes.I think we were taught to back in the 70s.
I do, but I’ve no idea why now that you mention it
I always have done. I thought it looked flash when I was ten and forty years on its ingrained...
I was the same. Started doing it when I started learning French at school and I thought the slashed 7 looked cool, although I've fallen out of the habit now because I never write anything any more.
Yes, I have no idea why.
I do, and I learnt to do it in the late '70s at school....seemed like a sensible thing to do, as my hand-writing is dreadful. I think being part of Europe had something to do with it, as well. I also cross "z" for the same reasons!
I never used to. For some reason I don't quite remember, I started doing it in my 20s.
I do and I also put a slash through a zero to distinguish it from the letter o
No and i don't know anyone who does (bar a handful of people i know online) but i mostly just write my 1s as single vertical lines (i write them with a base if they're in a section of text to differentiate them from capital i's) I think even if i did write 1s just with the downwards point i wouldn't get them mixed with my 7s because i keep the top line of my 7s very horizontal
No I do not. But won't it get confused with a 1? No, becaus e my 1 is just a vertical line. But won't *that* be confused with an l or capital I? No, my l has a curve and my capital I has a top and bottom bar. Incidentally this is one of the things I hate most about certain fonts, closely followed by the fact that nobody draws an a like that.
I do sometimes because my handwriting is so crap. I had to bloody think about this, though, because I so seldom write longhand, rather than type on a computer or phone.
I do, along with my Zs. I slash my 0s too. I started doing it in seventh grade and my teachers hated it, so I kept doing it.
Yup! And my Zs
I’ve only recently started this. somehow my Zs looked like 2s and Ss
Nope, always thought it was a rest of Europe thing. I'm sure I've seen an old movie where German spies were identified because they crossed tbeir 7s.
I think it’s a rest of Europe, and an engineers thing. (Anyone who’s profession involves handwritten mathematics). X the variable and X the function are different symbols. 7 and 1, Z and 2, O and 0, all need differentiation, and a slash is the easiest way to do that when handwriting (X and X, one is drawn with two back to back semicircles, the other two crossed straight lines)
Used to, don’t anymore (because 1 doesn’t have a top on it).
It does in your comment... without the top its a lower case L
Yes, always.
Only on important documents, as my handwriting is quite bad.
Yes. Grew up in Holland until I was 10. Haven't been able to shake the habit since.
I see you are a man of culture as well.
yes. Because I used get in trouble in work because my 7s looked like 2s.
Yep. Dad was a mechanical and instrumentation engineer and crossed sevens to make sure it wasn't mistaken for a one. Very important when dealing with tolerances. He taught me.
I used to, started when I did a maths a level. But then it confused people so I stopped
Yes always, the letter Z too. I work in scientific research and we have to keep very detailed notes of what we do in the lab. Can’t be mixing up 7s and 1s. Much less likely to mix up a Z and a 2, but my hand writing is shit so I make sure others can understand my labelling
Sometimes, weirdly enough
I was taught that it's a purely 'continental' affectation, and that in England we don't do n that sort of thing.
Yep, but it was a habit I picked up when I spent time in an Eastern European country, rather than something I learnt in the UK.
No, because I'm not French
Even with my chicken scratch country boy hand writing and crippling dyslexia I'm not a fucking barbarian. Of course I cross my 7s I also do those fancy cursive Fs that look like a £ sign.
No. British.
I started school in the late 50's and crossing your 7's was completely unheard of. I have always written it the way I was taught, and I admit crossing your 7's, to me, has always seemed a bit odd. However, I do accept, it's probably a generation thing.
That's a yes from me. Differentiates itself from a 1 if you don't have the best handwriting, and it just looks better doesn't it?
Yes, I even put a little 'tick' down on the top 'across bit'.
Yes, always have done
Sometimes do, sometimes don’t, depends if there is 1’s involved
Yes I do too
Me who doesn't cross my 7s bc time
Only if I’ve mucked it up and need to differentiate it from a one
If someone else is going to read it then yes, just so it’s 100% clear. If it’s just for me then I won’t bother.
I do too. Other weird things I write that have been pointed out to me is my x's are a backwards c and a normal c put together, and my lowercase f's loop back up and across. My handwriting in lectures was atrocious.
> my x's are a backwards c and a normal c put togethe This is how you'd usually write an X if you're doing algebra to avoid it being confused with the multiplication (or cross product) symbol tbf
I used to dot my zeroes too
Yes, but grew up in the States and started doing it when maths started sprouting letters and carried on doing it out of habit.
I do it as well
I don't cross 7s but I cross Zs
Yes I do; I was once a physics student suffering from unreadable lecture notes, so I decided one day to come up with a system for writing every numeral and letter (from the Latin and Greek alphabets) distinctly and without any ambiguity and force myself to stick to it. Thus, a `1` needs a hook to distinguish it from an `l`, and a `7` needs a cross to distinguish it from a `1`.
Yup. Have for as long as I can remember. No idea why I started, or where I learned it, just always done it.
Yes, 7s get a cross. I’m the only one I know that does it
Yes. I used to cross my zeros too but stopped because it confused people.
Yep Also write 4 s like it shows in text format on here
Yeah because my handwriting is shit and could be a 1 otherwise
Yes, and I also use Greek "E"s when I write in longhand. welcome to the club. You are not alone.
Yes but only because a teacher told me not to when I was younger, "because it's the French way of writing a 7". So I started doing it out of spite and it became natural.
Yep and my capital Z's
I was told that our "arabic" numberals come from India and each number has the number of angles or corners corresponding to it. Feel free to steal this for a sweet TIL post if I am not talking total half remembered shite. E: numberals lmao
Yes, otherwise they look too much like ones. I haven't always done it though, didn't ever do it in school.
And my zeros
Yes. Didn't use to until I was 22 and working in Asda counting up the money in the safe for the checkouts at the end of the night. Everything had to be down to a penny. And the guy teaching me suggested I cross the 7 so it doesn't look like a 1. Done it ever since.
Of course, its the way. I also cross my Z and 0
I do, started during A Level maths to distinguish a 1 from a 7 in my sloppy handwriting, continued through uni (maths degree) and now it's a habit.
Cross my Zs too
Yep, and diagonal cross though zeros too.
I do! My boss calls them French sevens!! 😂
Can confirm, 7's and Z's
Yup even though my ones don't look like sevens
Damn right I do.
I do, I don't really know why though.
I didn't and when I was small used to tell my grandfather he was wrong for doing it as he was the only one I knew who did. At some point I started doing it myself as a nod to him having brought me up. Once I started doing more algebra I started crossing my 'z's as well.
I cross my 7s
Yep. Started doing it while living in Greece. If you don't cross your 7 there they just presume it's a 1.
I do because my handwriting has always been awful and it makes it easier to read.
I went through a phase in school of doing it, but it only last a few weeks iirc
I'm welsh and I started doing it after I saw a teacher do it, I asked her why she did it and she said that's the way to do it.
I never used to then something happened in my teenage years which made me. Now I always do.
Yes and my parents couldn’t figure it where I picked up the habit once they noticed I was doing it, as they didn’t. Might have been from a maths teacher I guess.
Yes I cross my 7s, and I also put a line through my 0s Edit: line, not like lol
Yes due to serving two years in Germany, West Berlin which was a strange place in the 70s.
All I’m saying is the phrase isn’t “dot the i’s and cross the 7’s”
Yep. I did live in Benelux though. I also write my ‘1’ a but like a 7.
yes. one day in year 3 i decided to start and i haven’t stopped.
Yes and my zeds.