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I am wondering about repetitions related to the use of the word one as a pronoun and as a number inside an adjectival compound.

Here are two examples:

  1. My friend ordered a two-scoop cone, while a got a one-scoop one.
  2. We can approximate an arbitrary polynomial by a degree-one one.

Are these repetitions acceptable/correct?

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    I think they are correct but I would try to use "single" instead of one, if I had to repeat the word "one". "...while I got a single-scoop one." or "...by a single-degree one."
    – Melon Dusk
    Commented Jun 2, 2021 at 9:36
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    Rewording would be a good idea to avoid ambiguity and awkwardness, and some editors might object (as editors do to all kinds of things), but it's not ungrammatical. As to whether it's correct, you could consult your style guide, but I'd be surprised if it's mentioned. Still, it's a good principle that if you think people might object to something or be confused by it, and it's easy to change it, then it often makes sense to change it regardless of whether you are objectively in the right.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jun 2, 2021 at 9:42
  • It's not ambiguous in speech. One, the numeral, is pronounced differently from one, the pronoun, which is almost always unstressed.
    – John Lawler
    Commented Jun 2, 2021 at 15:03

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