From: Antoine Leca (Antoine10646@leca-marti.org)
Date: Wed Apr 06 2005 - 04:08:52 CST
> Philippe Verdy recently said:
>
>> I think that Spanish users will use the masculine letter mark to
>> compose "N°" or "n°"
Yes, this is common use here in Spain. I was surprised the first time I saw
it, by I found it convenient, and now I use this to compose nº, whether in
French or in Spanish (and yes, I do use it even when I am typing with the
France keyboard layout; but I am quite a purist.)
>> (It may even happen that the real degree unit sign, for example
>> in "60°41'N 5°16'W", is written using this masculine letter mark).
Yes, and yes it would be a (common) mistake.
BTW, I think the correct form is 60°41'N 5°16'W (using U+2032.)
Timothy Partridge wrote:
[ About abbreviation ]
> In England the use of a full stop afterwards
> tends to suggest that the rest of the word has
> been dropped. (The lack of a full stop suggests that the last letter
> of the abbreviation is the last letter of the original word.)
This usage of the full stop or the lack of it is definitively still in use
in both France and Spain, even if it is often misused. When I was young in
France, I was somehow confused by the directions panels with things like
Clermont-Fd vs Cl.-Ferrand, until I learned about the rule.
OTOH, if you ask people in the street about this, there is much probability
they will insist on /wrong/ positions, like N° (cf. Peter), 2ème (should be
2e), République Française (no need for the 2nd cap), etc.
And as everybody knows, it is the repetition of a "bad use" will create a
newer "established" use.
Antoine
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