Lexington, KY - For the 2,559th time, please don't spell out two-thousand, five-hundred and fifty-nine. Ever.
When you're deciding whether to spell out a number or use a numeral, the general guideline is the following: Spell out a number when it's under 10 (e.g., "I am planning to go to all seven UK home football games this year"). Use a numeral when it's 10 or over ("We've lost 25 consecutive games to Tennessee, darn it").
Regardless of the general rule, here are several instances in which you should always use numerals:
Dates: The UK football team's first game is Sept. 1 (not September First).
Times: The time of the game is 9:15 p.m. (not nine-fifteen pee-em).
Scores: I predict UK will the opener win by 37-0 (not thirty-seven to nothing).
Percentages: I also predict that UK will win 75 percent (not seventy-five percent) of its games this year.
Weight: The biggest UK football player weighs 338 pounds (not three-hundred and thirty-eight pounds).
Exact amounts of money: Ticket prices for UK football games range from $41 (not forty-one dollars) to $75 (not seventy-five dollars) each. If the amount reaches the millions, write it this way: $40 million (not forty million dollars).
Most people won't notice a slip-up or two as long as you're consistent. Don't use 11 in one sentence and eleven in the next.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is writer-in-residence at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegieliteracy.org) and author of FatherLoss and VoiceMale. The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Neil at nchet@aol.com or 859-254-4175.