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Digits tend to be read faster and are less important. Spelling out numbers takes longer to read and are emphasized. So there are two things to consider: 1) How do people think of dates? Do you thi...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25938 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25938 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
Digits tend to be read faster and are less important. Spelling out numbers takes longer to read and are emphasized. So there are two things to consider: **1) How do people think of dates?** Do you think of this year as "twenty seventeen" or "two thousand seventeen"? Was Bill Clinton president in the "nineteen-nineties" or the "one thousand nine hundred nineties"? Use the intuitive phrasing. **2) How much emphasis do you need to put on the date?** If they're jumping forward a few hundred years, then you can use digits, because it's close enough to be relatable: > "The date appears to be late April 2432," she said. If they've advanced several thousand years, then spelling it out will underscore just how far ahead they are: > She looked at her screen in astonishment. "According to these readings, it's approximately the year twenty-four thousand, three hundred fifty-six."