Pedro J. Aphalo writes: > On 18 Feb 97 at 15:12, Hans Aberg wrote: > > > > For example, with the numbers, it is so that all Swedish numbers _should_ > > be typeset with a comma like "3,1415..", and not "3.1415..", as in English. > > In English one could use either 1\,234.567 or 1,234.567, or maybe > 1234.567, or even 1\,234{\cdot}567, etc. > > So "format" for numbers changes both within and between languages... Or you could follow the ISO standard. The main `problem' (if it is a problem) is that there is no consistent story taught in schools. One school will teach a student to write e.g. a date in one format; the neighbouring school will teach a different format. When children grow up, they use the format they were taught - they aren't interested in conforming to a standard.