Talk:Micro-

Latest comment: 9 months ago by 99.11.20.125 in topic source for "mc"?
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Games edit

So whats micro on computer games? Anyone gotta real sophisticated way to put it?

I've absolutely no idea what you're trying to ask.
There's already a disambig referencing the computer usage; I don't think any more is necessary.
Fourohfour 10:44, 11 October 2005 (UTC)Reply
as well as being slang for micromanagement in real-time strategy games.
I play a lot of real-time strategy gamesm and so far as I am aware, this term has never been used. Perhaps it is business jargon or bs. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Evildictaitor (talkcontribs) .

Requested move to "Micro-" edit

(This section created by Fourohfour, as proposer of move had not already created one).

Can you indicate the reasoning behind the move proposal? Thanks. Fourohfour 10:39, 20 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

The article is about the micro- prefix ("micro" is not a word by itself). This is the way prefixes are written in dictionaries and the first word of the article. All of these prefix articles need to be named appropriately. — Omegatron 15:21, 20 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
So long as it's consistent with the rest of Wikipedia (or at least the way it's *meant* to be), that sounds fair enough to me. Fourohfour 16:38, 20 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

Micro can also be used as a word on it's own, as an adjective

i would comment that prescription would hold that 'micro' is a prefix, while description, acknowledges that it is a word unto itself. EuPhyte 18:40, 21 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
Wikipedia is not a dictionary. This is an encyclopedia article about a prefix, not a dictionary definition of a word.
For comparison, wikt:micro- is a dictionary definition of a prefix, while wikt:micro is a dictionary definition of a word.
micro could be a disambiguation page that links to micro- the prefix and microcomputer, for instance. — Omegatron 04:01, 27 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
Exactly, i favor the move, as this is an article about "micro- (prefix). However your assertion "("micro" is not a word by itself)" is not a winnable argument, per descriptive/perscriptive linguistics. I say move it. Article looks great by the way. --EuPhyte 00:00, 28 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
No, that is not appropriate use of {{lowercase}}. This is just like most Wikipedia entries.
Some dictionaries use upper and lower case variations in their entries, including Wiktionary. But Wikipedia has initial capitalization on, so we have Microcomputer which works fine using a microcomputer link and which shouldn't have a lowercase template either.
Other dictionaries, at least Webster's Third New International Dictionary, use the flip side of our initial capitalization: it uses initial lowercase, always. Gene Nygaard (talk) 10:16, 18 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Non standard prefix u edit

"In circumstances where only the Latin alphabet is available, the SI standard allows representation of the prefix using the letter u as in um for µm, or uV for µV." This assertion must be sourced or deleted. I didn't find this statement of this in SI Brochure (http://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/) so I think this use is not allowed officially. Please provide a source or it will be deleted. Armando82 10:47, 20 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Changed. If you believe the correction I have done is wrong doesn't hesitate to correct the article but please provide a reliable source together. Armando82 18:45, 20 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
The use of u or U as the substitute for µ is specified in ISO 2955. See Table 2. Kimura Aichi (talk) 12:14, 24 October 2008 (UTC)Reply
As of 2021 „ISO 2955:1983 INFORMATION PROCESSING — REPRESENTATION OF SI AND OTHER UNITS IN SYSTEMS WITH LIMITED CHARACTER SETS“ is withdrawn. Also, the article does not state, that this usage is for „LIMITED CHARACTER SETS“, making the info misleading. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.26.77.227 (talk) 11:44, 11 February 2021 (UTC)Reply

Lowercase? edit

I think that the move from Micro to micro- was good, but why is there a {{lowercase}} tag? The full name is capitalized at the beginning of a sentence just like normal words are, and microfarad, micrometer, etc are capitalized like other words.

Obviously the abbreviations must keep their case even when it would otherwise be changed, but not so for the full form. (That is, unless someone has a good reference -- for example using "microfarad capacitance is desired." instead of "Microfarad capacitance is desired." or an explicit discussion of this issue.)

CRGreathouse (t | c) 20:35, 6 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

this is buch of bull shittttteeee.... it dont help anybody out!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.145.77.114 (talk) 01:05, 28 September 2008 (UTC)Reply

italics? edit

I’m changing μ to be in a roman (not italic) font throughout this article, in accordance with the ISO standards linked at the bottom, which are presumably authoritative. I see no source justifying their consistent italicization. Obviously when used in a context like: “the symbol μ for micro means...”, the italics are appropriate. –jacobolus (t) 18:47, 10 May 2010 (UTC)Reply

It may also have been a mix of the legacy µ sign which is often rendered in italics even if not asking so, and the greek letter μ, which behaves as expected. The legacy µ sign should be avoided for this and other reasons, as mentioned elsewhere on this Talk page. M Killian (talk) 16:04, 9 March 2020 (UTC)Reply

Mcg used in pharmacy? edit

Where did the bit about mcg being used in Pharmacy come from? I checked the list, and it states that mcg is NOT acceptable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_abbreviations_used_in_medical_prescriptions --74.215.62.191 (talk) 10:59, 2 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

I fixed it. The confusion arose because the Joint Commission recommendation is to use either "mcg" or "microgram", whereas some other organizations want only "microgram" (best practice). The "mcg" abbrev is in common use in health care. — ¾-10 23:34, 2 August 2012 (UTC)Reply

Unicode character used in this article edit

Why does this article use U+00B5, given that U+03BC is the preferred form? The SI units table uses U+03BC. —StuartBrady (Talk) 20:38, 25 August 2015 (UTC)Reply

In the current version of this page we use the greek letter everywhere, except where the legacy sign is meant specifically. Thanks for pointing at the issue, which has been solved in the mean time. M Killian (talk) 16:04, 9 March 2020 (UTC)Reply


another badly designed critical element of science edit

just not much system to this wording chosen for the degrees of magnitude, & not much mnemonics, and for those that dont hav english or, especially, latin as their first language??? such inefficiency for a group of people that hav t remember so so much!! so much of science has turned into this, and its understandable with brick by brick things added on, yet somday sombody is gonna have to fix it — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.10.126.202 (talk) 00:38, 8 March 2016 (UTC)Reply

What is especially bad is that the system of using Greek prefixes (deka, hekto, kilo) for multiplication (x10; x100; x1000) and Latin prefixes (deci, centi, milli) for division (1/10; 1/100; 1/1000) has been forsaken. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.200.153.211 (talk) 06:58, 6 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

Greek mu vs micro mu edit

FWIW, concerning this edit: see Unicode Technical Report #25, page 11:

"Some Greek letters are encoded elsewhere as technical symbols. These include U+00B5 μ MICRO SIGN, U+2126 Ω OHM SIGN, and several characters among the APL functional symbols in the Miscellaneous Technical block. U+03A9 Ω GREEK LETTER CAPITAL OMEGA is the canonical equivalent of U+2126 Ω and its use is preferred. Micro sign is included in several parts of ISO/IEC 8859, and therefore supported in many legacy environments where U+03BC μ GREEK LETTER SMALL MU is not available. Implementations therefore need to be able to recognize the micro sign, even though U+03BC μ is the preferred character in a Unicode context.

Latin letters duplicated include U+212A K KELVIN SIGN and U+212B Å ANGSTROM SIGN. As in the case of the ohm sign, the corresponding regular Latin letters are canonical equivalents, therefore their use is preferred."

So clearly they created the special symbols for implementations where the Greek (resp. Latin) letters are unavailable, but still prefer the Greek (resp. Latin) letters where they are available. As they are available here, and as most keyboards that do have a mu, provide the Greek letter, the edit seems on the mark. Was also discussed at User talk:128.178.189.30 - DVdm (talk) 11:36, 9 May 2016 (UTC)Reply

In the current version of this page we use the greek letter everywhere, except where the legacy sign is meant specifically. Thanks for pointing at the issue. M Killian (talk) 16:04, 9 March 2020 (UTC)Reply

Greek letter μ or legacy symbol µ edit

Is there a differance? Are those coded by different unicode characters? Which unicode block does the latter come from? Which is is preffered, the Greek alphabet character from the Unicode block, or the dedicated character from a block I am not yet aware of? 85.221.132.154 (talk) 10:26, 27 May 2021 (UTC)Reply

source for "mc"? edit

does anyone have a source for the use of "mc" as a replacement for "μ"? I've never seen it used, and the only sources I can find that mention it look unreliable. Justin Kunimune (talk) 16:20, 22 November 2021 (UTC)Reply

@Justinkunimune Multivitamin and selected other vitamin bottles, as well as most food nutritional labels, use the symbol mcg for micrograms, using the first and third letters of micro for their abbreviation. 99.11.20.125 (talk) 06:25, 22 July 2023 (UTC)Reply