Tally Marks
Did you know that tally mark configurations differ from country to country?
Tally marks are a numerical system used for to make counting easier. As the name suggests, it is a system that helps keep “tally” of things by number.
Tally marks are commonly used for counting scores, points, number of people or, as per the cliché, the number of days you’ve spent in prison.
Tally marks differ from country to country, as each culture has developed their own systems. Even if you know what tally marks look like in your own country, you may not know what they look like away from home.
The tally cluster is a way of arranging tallies into intervals of five for ease of counting. To make a tally cluster in most parts of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, you mark up to four vertical strokes before using a diagonal stroke to mark the fifth one.
In France, Spain, South America and some parts of Africa, they also use a tally cluster based on intervals of five. However, instead of four vertical lines and a fifth diagonal or horizontal one, they create a square with a diagonal through it (from upper right to bottom left). Order matters, so you must start with a singular vertical line, a horizontal line going right to make the top the box, then a downward line for the right-hand side, a fourth line to complete the square, and a fifth line that diagonals across it.
Like their Western equivalents, the Chinese also use a cluster of five strokes. Chinese tally marks, however, add up to make the shape of the Chinese character 正 (pronounced zhèng), which means “correct” or “true/right”. Chinese tally marks are used in day-to-day life, not only in China, but in other parts of Asia that use Chinese characters in their alphabet.
While not fully verified, the most agreed upon origin of the Chinese tally mark dates back to the end of the Qing Dynasty, and a Shanghai theatre’s strategy for keeping track of, and then seating patrons in groups-of-five.
Another curious thing about the Western version of tally marks relates to that fifth stroke and how it is drawn, diagonally or horizontally, and starting from where. Thanks to this r/Damnthatsinteresting subreddit we can point you to this Google Form wherein you are invited to cast your vote. Vote HERE.
Here are the results, at the time of writing – and, for what it’s worth, we’re in the third-most-popular “diagonally from bottom left” camp. You?
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