• JoeyHarrington@lemmy.ca
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        13 hours ago

        Because it’s a stupid, non standard way to say it. I understood it fine but I still thought it was a needless abbreviation.

        • P1nkman@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          K = kilo, which stands for 1000. It’s extremely standard. Saying it’s stupid is like saying $ or π or & or # or % is stupid.

            • ricecake
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              11 hours ago

              Okay. I don’t typically get that caught up in the formatting of a number if the meaning is clear. 1k means 1000 in basically every context, and a unit indicator doesn’t make it more confusing to me. Are you likewise baffled by something being written as “1km”?

                • ricecake
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                  8 hours ago

                  A percentage is a dimensionless number, but percent is still a unit. Just think about how you use it. Something can increase by 5 students, or it can increase by 15%.

                  Regardless, is “m” standing for a concrete measure and ”%” for a proportional one really the source of since confusion and anger? What about db, or decibel? It’s a measure of the ratio of quantities on a logarithmic scale, and is regularly applied to sound, electricity and other values. Is it as confusing?