Counting words

[akiaki]

Simple question: I just wanted to verify that when we talk about 300 word articles, one, two and three letter words don't count, right?

Followup: Is there any quick and easy tool that does word counts for you? I don't want to go to my linux box and use wc

 

[tubeincreaser]

Yeah they do, most people just use word count in Microsoft Word.

 

[7878]

..one, two and three letter words don't count, right?

I've never heard that before. Words are words. Here's a free one just copypaste:

wordcounttool.com

 

[akiaki]

I've never heard that before. Words are words. Here's a free one just copypaste:

wordcounttool.com

Really? I guess you didn't go to college. Not counting 1/2/3 (well at least 1/2) letter words is pretty standard and waaaaay predates the interwebs. But I believe you if you say in this context that's the way it goes.

Thanks for the link!!

 

[BENNY8877]

Microsoft Word counts all of those, including the one lettered words.

 

[Autumn]

Really? I guess you didn't go to college.

What a complete douche thing to say.

I don't know if our esteemed moderator 7878 is a university graduate or not, but I most certainly am and have also worked in offline publishing and advertising (as a copywriter for one of the world's largest ad agencies, M&C Saatchi). I can say with certainty that how words are counted varies entirely on your field and the format in which you're looking to publish.

For SE research the most important thing is just to pick one standard and stick with it so you're always comparing apples to apples.

 

[7878]

Really? I guess you didn't go to college.

Goooooooooosefraba.

 

[GORILLA]

When I was in school it was 5 characters = 1 word (disregarding spaces). Thats what they used to measure how many words you can type per minute.

 

[akiaki]

What a complete douche thing to say.

Don't take it the wrong way, folks. Whether or not you went to college in my eyes says nothing at all about what kind of person you are or how smart you are. It's merely one of the most common places people run into that method of word measurement - most every university won't count "a" and "I" and so on as words when you're doing your writing proficiency courses and testing. Nothing more is intended; no douchery here. Maybe 7878 was there but just forgot (hangover? ).