On 2021-06-25 at 14:24:13 UTC-0400 (Fri, 25 Jun 2021 19:24:13 +0100)
RW <rwmailli...@googlemail.com>
is rumored to have said:
On Fri, 25 Jun 2021 05:51:24 -0700
Loren Wilton wrote:
From a fake "subscription" spam:
You can reach out
to our Customer Support Team+1 (800) 781 - 2511.
Is it common in the US to put 800 in brackets like that?
Yes.
In my
experience brackets normally go around either country codes or area
codes, digits that may be optional.
In the US system (NANP) toll-free numbers were initially implemented as
special pseudo-area codes. For many years area codes were strictly
geographic except for 800 and later 888 toll-free numbers, and we had 3
types of dialing: 7-digit "toll-free local," 1+7-digit "local toll," and
1+3-digit-area-code+7-digit "long distance toll." In border areas,
(###) ###-#### was a common format in print. Because toll-free numbers
worked most like long distance toll calls, requiring '1+###' as a
prefix, they got the same punctuation treatment.
Inordinate additional detail:
For some time, we also had "local exchange" dialing, where one could
just dial the last 4 digits for local numbers sharing the same 3-digit
prefix. There was also an old nomenclature system that mapped the local
exchange prefix to 2 letters and a digit, with the 2 letters being an
abbreviation of some word. For example, as a kid I had a "Parkview 1"
number: 721-xxxx. Businesses would often put their numbers in print ads
using those, e.g. PA1-1234. Parkview was not an actual place, but all
the PAx exchanges in St. Louis were within a mile or two of Forest Park,
i.e. people who might be able to have a view of the park from an
adequately tall tree.
--
Bill Cole
b...@scconsult.com or billc...@apache.org
(AKA @grumpybozo and many *@billmail.scconsult.com addresses)
Not Currently Available For Hire
