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Business & Technical Writing/listing order
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Question
Two of our children are in grade school. They both have a habit of listing numbers out of sequence from highest to lowest and this drives my husband and I crazy because it sounds incorrect, but we have never heard of a grammatical rule about this.An example sentence would be "I have five or three, I don't remember which." Or "The party is for 6:30 or 6:00." Is there a rule that pertains?
Well, Natasha, do you live in Louisiana? :-) JUST KIDDING! There are some old Cajun jokes where Thibodeaux phones his spouse to tell her he'll be home in "30 or 10 minutes."
I'm not familiar with any usage rules, per se. Neither is my style authority, The Chicago Manual of Style. Your kids might be mimicking the way their classmates speak, or maybe a close friend of theirs speaks that way. If that's not the case, you might want to ask their teacher(s) about that. Sounds weird to me, but that's only because using numbers in ascending order is idiomatic in our language.
I will say, however, that if this is the worst problem you kids have, you're way ahead of most of us. Consider yourself lucky, my friend.
Hope this helps.
Warren
P.S. Since you did submit this under 'Business & Technical Writing', I should mention that your usage of "my husband and I" in your question is incorrect. It should be "my husband and me." The easy way to test for that is to leave the other person out of it: ". . .this drives me crazy. . ." You wouldn't say, ". . .this drives I crazy." Just trying to be helpful.
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Answers by Expert:
Warren D. Miller
Expertise
I believe I can answer nearly any question about business writing. That goes in spades if the target audience is a lay readership. I make my living writing and speaking. N.B.: I DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS MARKED 'PRIVATE' because I believe that knowledge should be shared, not hoarded. I also believe such questions are likely to be submitted by people trying to cheat. In addition, don't waste your time asking me to write something for you. You don't learn anything if I do that. I'm happy to critique something that YOU write, of course. That's the best way for you to learn how to write well.
Experience
My profession is business valuation, which means appraising businesses whose shares are not publicly traded. This requires in-depth knowledge about a number of disciplines, including economics, finance, strategic management, accounting, anthropology, statistics, and psychology. The left-brain part of me must conduct rigorous research and financial analysis. The right-brain side must then separate what matters from what doesn't and then explain it all in writing (and in everyday English) to people (usually business owners, but sometimes judges and juries) who do not have the expertise that I have been lucky enough to acquire over the years. I love what I do and consider myself fortunate to live in a country where I can do what I love doing and make a nice living doing it. I am glad to help with writing issues, but NOT, please, with any valuation, business consulting, or other non-writing questions.
Organizations
CFA Institute, American Society of Appraisers, Strategic Management Society, Academy of Management, Culver Legion, National Association of Scholars.
Publications
Besides two published books (search for "Warren D. Miller" on Amazon), I have written for the Harvard Business Review, American Fly Fisher, Business Valuation Review, CPA Expert, Academy of Management Executive, CFA Digest, Valuation Strategies, and others.
Education/Credentials
MBA - Oklahoma State U. (1991);
BBA - U. of Oklahoma (1975);
Chartered Financial Analyst designation (2006)
Accredited Senior Appraiser (2006)
Certified Public Accountant (1992)
Awards and Honors
Business Valuation Volunteer of the Year (2001) - American Institute of CPAs
Winner - Oklahoma Humorous-Speaking Contest - Toastmasters International (1971)
Past/Present Clients
Confidential.
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