"$1 Million"
I was reading this great article by Mike Fish on espn.com about Lenny Dykstra's crazy post-baseball business dealings and legal troubles when I came across a style detail that I found curious.
About two-thirds of the way through the article, Fish quotes Dykstra as saying "I mean, $1 million? A Web site?". The thing I found curious was the use of "$1 million".
What did Dykstra actually say? "One million dollars"? Or "One million" where the concept of dollars was implied? I can't tell. It's a silly detail, surely inconsequential to the story, and yet - as a quote - I'd expect it to be unambiguous.
It seems that the $ symbol can't be reliably used as shorthand in a quote. I find this interesting.
About two-thirds of the way through the article, Fish quotes Dykstra as saying "I mean, $1 million? A Web site?". The thing I found curious was the use of "$1 million".
What did Dykstra actually say? "One million dollars"? Or "One million" where the concept of dollars was implied? I can't tell. It's a silly detail, surely inconsequential to the story, and yet - as a quote - I'd expect it to be unambiguous.
It seems that the $ symbol can't be reliably used as shorthand in a quote. I find this interesting.
NO COMMENTS