Numbers
Q. In the admittedly rare circumstances when you want to write out the name of a large number, are there any agreed-upon guidelines for the usage of the word “and”? Is it “six hundred seventy-two” or “six hundred and seventy-two”? I was taught the former in grade school; a colleague was taught the latter, equally adamantly. I should note that said colleague is Canadian; is this perhaps a question of American versus British usage? All consulted manuals are, inexplicably, silent on the matter.
A. As paragraph 9.5 in the fifteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style suggests, using and is a matter of personal preference. For many people it is more idiomatic to say “one hundred and ten,” and, therefore, perhaps especially in less formal writing, it can be written that way as well. In some contexts, caution is advisable, however. Look at the following two expressions:
six hundred seventy-two
six hundred and seventy two
The latter expression could possibly be construed as two numbers: 600, on the one hand, and 72, on the other. But in the majority of contexts there would be no reason to worry.
