# Phone number



## newbie_1

So I'm trying to read a phone number that was quickly jotted down for me by a native korean speaker. 

Normally you wouldn't think it should matter because phone numbers are just numbers like 1-2-3 etc but I think there may be some possible mixing with korean characters or some similar habit in this case.

So I see something that looks like a closed parenthesis with curve going upward like maybe a 7 but then a vertical line to the top left like a "17" but with a short "1" that doesn't go all the way down. 

This is seen twice in the whole phone number (once in the area code and again in the last sequence). In both cases there is a "1" before this character is seen. Maybe coincidental, or maybe connected, not sure.

If I were to put that "1" together with the character it would basically be a "117" with a short "1" in the middle and very curved 7. I know it's not actually "117" because the area code already has a number before that.

Then going by the supposed location of the area code I'm thinking that "117" is either a 17 or a 14. Could there be some character that slightly resembles a "17" which means 4 in korean ? Or 7? 

Or does this just sound like that person is bad at writing numbers period ?


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## SpaceJB

You are very specific but I've never seen characters like that


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## newbie_1

Imgur

Here's a close up in case this looks familiar to anyone. I'm thinking it might just be a strange way to write 17 but not sure...


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## SpaceJB

I see. I bet someone just scrawled numbers hastly. It seems to be a personal habit. There are no characters that resemble what you described. Can you show me a whole phone number?


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## cherine

No, we can't have people's number posted in public 
But I think it is indeed a strange way to write 117 or 17.


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## newbie_1

Imgur

It wouldn't be 117 because there is another number right before that in the area code that is not ambiguous. So this "117" looking thing is def two digits.

I attached another img where something similar appears again (not in the area code). Kind of strange.


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## Typewriter1874

I started to learn writing numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10 at my preschool age about 5 or 6 I think. I was born in Seoul just before the Korean war broke. I learnt writing the number 7, especially 7 that looked like 17 (but 1 is small and attached the 7) to tell it is not the 'ㄱ' the first consonant of Korean alphabet. I'm not keeping that way of writing anymore, but I see some still does. I hope this helps you to know the reason why.


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## Rance

One can only speculate based on that image.

There is no area code 117 nor 17 in Korea.
There used to be 017, but I dont think there are people using it nowdays.
(This number isnt really an area code as it was associated with mobile carrier which is now gone.)

Anyhow East Asians also write 7 slightly different than other countries to distinguish from 1.
It has additional short vertical line at head like ﾜ.
It is possible that vertical line can be elongated when scribbling while the original 7 gets written in a single curved line like *り, *but i dont remember seeing anyone writing  close to リ as it is easier to connect the lines than making breaks in line when you scribble.
After all it could be Japanese.


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## jeu_ing

Hi,
just in case there's anybody still looking for a clear answer.
Based on the images that newbie_1 put online, both numbers are 17.

It's actually not easy to recognize them at once because of the rough handwriting but they should be 17 if they really are numbers.
As Rance mentioned, 'Korean style seven'(I'm not sure about the cases of other East Asian countries) is quite different from '7' <- this.
And this 'Korean style seven' has two strokes: one of a short vertical line and the other of the combination of a short horizontal line and a longer vertical line - just like '7' <- this.
(But people commonly write it with one stroke so as to be quick and in this case, the short horizontal line can sometimes disappear.)
Mostly, people put them close together so that the two lines are easily recognized as one digit, but sometimes(when we write on an uneven surface, for example) the two lines can be put apart from each other like in the images.

So those '1 l 7's seem to be 17 rather than 117 or 14.


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