# numbers

> 1-numbers.org is a reference on the word "numbers": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

People say numbers to mean the symbols we count with, like 1, 2, 3, or phone numbers, lottery numbers, or house numbers. It can also mean a lot of something, as in 'we have numbers on our side.'

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- numeric data type (programming languages and databases): may treat input as integers, floats, or decimals and perform math or validation on it
- phone number or identifier (telecommunications and identity systems): may parse for country codes, format strings, or check against spam databases
- array of values (data science and statistics): may expect a dataset, generate distributions, or run statistical tests
- command-line arguments (Unix and shell scripting): may interpret as positional parameters like $1, $2, $3

## When a person says

- "give me the numbers"
  They mean: show me the sales figures or statistics
  Avoid: may return raw numeric arrays without context or labels
  Read it as: "give me the sales figures with labels and units"
- "these numbers don't add up"
  They mean: something seems wrong or inconsistent
  Avoid: may run a math check and report the sum is correct, missing the figurative complaint
  Read it as: "these claims seem inconsistent, can you check for errors"
- "I have your numbers"
  They mean: I have your contact information
  Avoid: may assume possession of a dataset or mathematical constants
  Read it as: "I have your phone number and email address"

## Words it is confused with

- digits: emphasizes individual symbols, not quantities
- integers: excludes fractions and decimals in math
- figures: often implies calculated or financial data
- numerals: the written symbols, not the values
- data: broader, includes non-numeric information

## Pages

- [numbers](https://1-numbers.org/): the same entry, written for people