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I recently favorited a question (Flash CS4 refuses to let go) that has a lot of views, like 45k+, but when I looked at the question in my list of favorites the number of views looked like this:

Bug Screenshot

the 'k' is in the wrong place (ie. it's in front of the 'views' part and not the number)

I know it's small but I just thought I'd alert someone to this.

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  • Somewhere in the depths of meta is what was once something of a heated debate on this (or maybe that was one of the other discussions, so many are heated, but this was brought up), the wording used and the unit specifiers - bottom line, it's by design. First two that pop are here and here. Oh, and another
    – Grant Thomas
    Dec 17, 2011 at 21:46
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    @Mr.Disappointment - a search for kviews looks like something that could provide hours of entertainment.
    – Oded
    Dec 17, 2011 at 21:49
  • @Oded Indeed, this is a duplicate, and we're spoiled for choice.
    – Grant Thomas
    Dec 17, 2011 at 21:51
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    Treat "views" like a unit of measurement and it makes perfect sense. The example question got 45 kiloviews.
    – hammar
    Dec 17, 2011 at 21:57
  • @hammer I think you should trademark that :)
    – annonymously
    Dec 17, 2011 at 22:01
  • Not a duplicate (except maybe of one I didn't see). The proposed dupes are: "'n / kviews' vs. 'n / k views'"; "inconsistency between SE sites"; and "'n / kviews' vs. 'n / views / thousand.'" This one, on the other hand, is "'n k / views' vs. 'n / kviews.'"
    – Pops
    Dec 20, 2011 at 13:43

2 Answers 2

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This is the markup:

<div class="hot">kviews</div>

So, looks like this is by design. Probably to ensure there is enough space to display the number, or to avoid complicating the markup.

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(this answer is not related to any discussions inside SE; I suspect this pre-dated my start at SE)

SI magnitude abbreviations are officially listed as prefixes to the unit of measure, not suffixes to the value. All other considerations (formatting etc) apart, it truly is 4 kviews, not 4k views. For example, in discussion of mass, it is 12 kg, not 12k g.

If the unit of measure is implicit and not stated, then it perhaps becomes a bit ambiguous whether 12k or 12 k is preferable. But when the unit is specified, it seems TO ME (at least), more correct to combine it with the unit of measure.

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  • I think the difference is that a view is a non-arbitrary measurement, whereas a "kview" is. It makes more sense to be interested in the number of views, rather than the number of kviews. Similarly, if I asked someone how many grams were in 10 pounds, I would expect the answer to be "4536 g" and not "4.536 kg". Given the expected unit, it makes sense for the 'k' to stick with the number when the number is shortened; "12k views" is "twelve-thousand views" whereas "12 kviews" is "twelve thousand-views", which is awkward if not nonsensical.
    – user154510
    Mar 8, 2012 at 17:55
  • @Matthew if I asked someone how many grams in 10 pounds, I expect "4536"... It is dimensionless, logically. Just saying...
    – Marc Gravell
    Mar 8, 2012 at 18:14
  • Lol, yes of course.
    – user154510
    Mar 8, 2012 at 18:41

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