dollar sign placement

[Baker, John]

        As a related question, does anyone know why we put the dollar sign before the number?  The invariable use in speech is to say the number, then the word "dollars."

        The British pound symbol (an italicized capital L, £) similarly is placed before the number.  In older texts, however, a different usage is often seen:  The italicized l is lower-case and follows the number.  Sometimes the l is followed by a period, as in the example at http://books.google.com/books?id=zBkCAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA228&dq=50l&lr=&num=100&as_brr=1&as_pt=ALLTYPES.


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of David K. Barnhart
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 3:48 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: dollar sign placement

Lately I've noticed that some e-mails contain a "misplacement".

Some folks say 400$ rather than $400.

How long have I been not noticing this?

DKB

Barnhart at highlands.com

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