May 20, 2004: Issue 76
SIM STYLE: Ranges that Aren’t
Watch out for: a numerical range that isn’t.
example: Apply two to three coats of polyurethane, lightly sanding between each coat.
What’s wrong with that sentence? It creates a range of “two to three,” but how does one apply more than two coats and less than three? It’s a nonexistent range. The phrase should read “two or three.”
There’s nothing wrong with creating a range of two consecutive whole numbers, as long as there’s a possibility of falling somewhere in between.
correct: The process takes five to six months.
correct: The homes have three or four bedrooms.
correct: Allow one to two hours to plant four or five rows of vegetable plants.
The point may seem picayune, but getting it right (like so many of the finer points of editing) sends a subtle message to readers that they have in their hands a top-notch publication in which no detail is overlooked.
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