Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Early or low teens?

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Early or low teens?
Time and again, you hearor read an item featuring numbers, often written by professional writers, wherethe presentation of numbers is illogical. Does it matter? Well, it does to me.If language is to retain any meaning, we surely need to use it in a way whichmakes sense, don't we? Unless, of course, you subscribe to the view that all artis subjective and the artist must be allowed the freedom to convey whatevermood, attitude or impression he or she intended. Even in this, however,inaccurate language will cause a failure for such ambition, since the veryinaccuracy will necessarily distort the responses of readers.
e.g. 'An articulation ofelephant orifices undergoes an extraordinary undulation in determining theacuity of the random prognostications of potential irradiation therapies.' This sentence employs thecorrect structural method and is grammatically sound. But it means absolutelynothing, because the words used aren't the right ones to convey meaning.
Okay, so what's all thisgot to do with the heading? Let me illustrate:
A weather report issuesyou with daily temperatures and states that these will be in the early teens.A news report details theantics of a politician and his claims for expenses, telling you that these werein the late thousands.A historian tells you thathe has discovered bones that date back to the low centuries of the iron age.A financier reports thatthe interest on an attractive bond issue will mature in the high twenties ofthe century.
All the foregoing aresamples of items I've either heard or read. I'm sure you must've come acrossthis sort of careless use of numbers on many occasions. The rules are simpleenough to employ if you want to avoid joining the ranks of the ignorant orcareless.
If the item has to do withdegree or intensity; e.g. the heat in temperature, the amount spent in money,etc., then you need to refer to the 'high' or 'low' teens, twenties, hundreds,or whatever.
If the item relates to thepassing of time; e.g. the age of something or someone, the number of seconds,minutes, hours, days, years taken, etc., then you need to use 'early' or 'late'teens, forties, thousands, or whatever.
So, does it matter thatthese writers/presenters mix up context in this way? Well, it indicates thatthey're unaware of the real meanings of the terms they're using, and doesn'tthat make you wonder if they know anything about what they're telling you?Confidence in written/spoken material is surely something we should all aimfor, if what we have to report is going to carry the necessary weight forcredibility.
6th December 1768 - 1st edition of"Encyclopedia Britannica" published in Scotland.