[Forum] RE: Part Numbering

CMOS staff emailed me an answer: "Part numbers for a book are often numbered with roman numerals or spelled out simply to differentiate them from the arabic numerals used for chapter numbers. This organizational principle isn’t set in stone—there’s no rule against using arabic numerals for both part

[Forum] Numbers in Fiction

I'm aware of the CMOS rule about spelling out numbers in discourse (although I tend to disagree in some cases, like phone numbers or long, specific dollar amounts; thoughts?). But what about throughout the rest of a novel? Would you follow the general CMOS rules? Or spell all numbers out? He

[Forum] Quoted dialogue with numbers

Is it ever permissible to use numbers in quoted dialogue? I don't think so, because we speak in words, not numbers. Are there any exceptions to this rule (e.g., dates)? Or should it be: He said, "On February first, twenty ten, my wife gave (or "had given"?) birth to our first child." Th

[Forum] numbers

I'm copyediting three very lengthy "quality assessment" reports on various faculties of a university. In addition to endless charts and graphs and tables and so on (endless, I tell you!) there are a lot of numbers within the body of the text. My instinct is to spell out anything under one hundred as

[Forum] Using the word ratio

Hi all, I'm working with a sentence which is making me doubt my understanding of how to use the word ratio. Example sentence: The ratio of the numbers of oranges in box A to box B is 1:3, and the ratio of the numbers of oranges in box B to box C is 2:1. The audience is children so it's

[Forum] RE: plurals

I agree with RGJaxon that the word [i]number [/i]is unnecessary. If you have to use it (e.g., if the author wants to include it), I would use the structure "aisle numbers x and y" because [i]aisle [/i]is modifying [i]numbers[/i], so [i]aisle [/i]does not have to be plural (and IMO "aisles number

[Forum] RE: Consistency with numbers

RGJaxon's response gets at the correct guideline.  APA has lots of fun exceptions to numbers, and it's getting even more interesting these days.  For instance, in APA's own corrections to the sixth edition of the manual (right after it was published), if you look closely at the example papers wit

[Forum] RE: Direct quote starts with a point percentage

CMOS doesn't address numbers in fiction specifically, so you'll have to look elsewhere for answers about this. There are no doubt a variety of views on this subject, but here's information on numerals in fiction from a resource I like and respect: [url=http://theeditorsblog.net/2013/01/13/numbers-in

[Forum] RE: class A felony

Very interesting that you brought up “aisle 8” as an example. We had a debate at our house last week whether the proper grammar would be The sale was in aisle numbers 7 and 8. Of course, it’s simpler to just write “aisles 7 and 8.” But if “numbers” is thrown in there, which of the following

[Forum] RE: Significant Figures

Whichever way you decide, make sure you're consistent throughout the document. For example, you could round off all whole numbers but extend to three decimal points anything under 1: 20. 3 and .007; 56.7 and .345. Your decision, however, should be based on how accurate you need to be (the context