CONTENTS FEATURE: Figuring how to express numerals in writing GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions NET NOTES: Captivating Web sites FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Figuring the proper way to express numerals in writing      Some journalists and marketing writers say they decided upon their scribal careers after realizing that they were lousy at math. Many are joking; many others are not.      However, even writers who can't distinguish between algorithms, logarithms and samba rhythms must still contend with numbers in written text. Rules governing integration of numbers in text vary among some of the widely used writing style guides, but they all have the same intention: to help maintain consistency and logic in references to numbers.      Book publishers subscribe to the guidelines of the Chicago Manual of Style, which leans toward representing numbers as words. Scientific journals favor expression of quantities in Arabic numerals (the familiar 0 through 9 numerical symbols). Journalists, who use the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, fall somewhere in between.      Many AP style guidelines were designed with newspaper spatial limitations in mind; numbers can be expressed more concisely with numerals than when spelled out. Consequently, for most circumstances, AP specifies spelling out cardinal numbers one through nine, but numerals with figures of two or more digits—"10" or greater. The Chicago manual, however, says that numbers as high as "one hundred" should be expressed as words. Perception of which registers more easily with readers—"67" or "sixty-seven"—is a matter of debate and personal preference.      Beyond that general rule, both of those major style guides contain long lists of exceptions and stipulations governing use of numbers to express various kinds of measurements and numerical expressions. Here are some of the numerical categories that they specify. addresses:      To comply with AP style, always use figures for addresses; spell out the names of streets numbered "First" through "Ninth" and use numerals for "10th" or higher (as in "4 Fifth Ave." and "4 E. 44th St."). The Chicago manual says that the names of numbered streets of one hundred or less should be spelled out ("4 E. Forty-Fourth Street"). ages:      The AP Stylebook says figures should be used to express all ages of people or animals (such as "she has a 3-year-old daughter"); for inanimate objects, apply general AP rules governing numbers ("he drives a three-year-old car"). The Chicago manual applies the general rule about numbers to ages, without making a distinction between people and objects (thus, "Jack Benny admitted to being thirty-nine years of age"). book chapters:      AP and Chicago both specify use of Arabic numerals in reference to a specific numbered chapter. AP says to capitalize "Chapter" (as in "...found in Chapter 3") but the Chicago manual says it may be lowercased. centuries and decades:      To comply with AP style, lowercase and spell out numbers smaller than 10th, but use numerals for centuries from the 10th forward. But when part of a proper name, follow the organization's practice. (Examples: "the fourth century, the 17th century, Twentieth Century Fund, 20th Century Fox.") AP also says that designation of the span of a decade or century should be done using numerals without an apostrophe ("the 1960s"; "the 1900s"). The Chicago manual says that numerical references to all centuries should be spelled out (as in "seventeenth century"), but that decades can be expressed with either words or numerals ("Echoes of the Sixties" or "Echoes of the '60s"). congressional districts:      AP says to capitalize and use figures when combined with a specific district number (as in "1st Congressional District"). The Chicago manual favors spelling out such designations ("First Congressional District"). court names:      AP specifies use of Arabic numerals for court identifications (as in "9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals"). Chicago shows such numerical designations spelled out ("Ninth U.S. Circuit Court"). dimensions:      AP's style is to use figures for measurements in inches, feet, yards and other units, with hyphenation for adjectival forms. (Examples: "The beige rug measures 9 feet by 12 feet. The 9-by-12-foot rug is beige.") Chicago recommends numerals for dimensions only in scientific, technical or statistical publications (as in "a test plot measuring 9 by 12 feet"), and says that its standard rules for numbers apply in "ordinary" text ("the rug measures nine by twelve feet"). distances:      AP applies its general numerical rules—spelling out numbers one through nine, and numerals for figures 10 or greater. (Example: "Betty jogged four miles while Fred biked 12 miles.") Here again, Chicago recommends numerals only in connection with scientific, technical or statistical publications (5 kilometers, 87 yards, 127 miles); Chicago's standard rules for numbers apply in "ordinary" text (five kilometers, eighty-seven yards; 127 miles). fractions:      AP says that fractions should be spelled out and hyphenated, but urges conversion to decimal units for expression of fractional units in combination with whole numbers. (Examples: "The market is three-quarters of a mile to the south, and the school is 1.25 miles north.") The Chicago manual applies the same interpretation. large numbers:      For AP style, use figures with any quantity of "billion" or "million" (as in "1 million hamburgers"). In contrast, the Chicago manual says that the combination of any whole numbers of "ninety-nine" or less with "hundred," "thousand," "million" and other such factors should be spelled out (as in "five hundred horses" or "fifty-seven million people"). It also endorses use of words to express numbers in hundreds between one thousand and ten thousand (as in "a mile is a little more than fifty-two hundred feet"). The Chicago manual agrees that numbers such as "502 horses" and "5,280 feet" should be expressed with numerals. nonspecific numbers:      Numerical references used to express unspecified quantities should be spelled out, as in "We've sold thousands of those flavored shoelaces" (NOT "we've sold 1,000s of those..."). ordinal numbers (those expressing order):      AP says to spell out single-digit ordinals (and use numerals for larger numbers) when they indicate sequence in time or location (as in "first base," "eighth floor of the building"). However, AP says to use numerals in all cases when the sequence is a component of the name of an entity (such as "1st Ward," "7th Fleet" and "9th District Court"). The Chicago manual applies its general rules regarding spelling to ordinal numbers as well (thus "twenty-third orbit"). percentages:      AP specifies use of figures and decimals rather than fractions and says that "percent" should be written as a single word. Precede percentage units smaller than "1" with a "0" (as in "3 percent" and "0.3 percent"). The Chicago manual agrees, adding that the "%" symbol is appropriate for scientific and statistical matter. sentence beginning:      AP and the Chicago manual agree that any numeral used as the first word of a sentence should be spelled out (as in "Two hundred fifty-six residents responded to the senior center's request for volunteers"). Both suggest revising such sentences. Possibilities are: "The senior center's request for assistance prompted responses from 256 volunteers" or "More than 250 residents responded to the senior center's request for volunteers." For one exception, see the "years" entry. series of numbers:      AP says to apply the appropriate guidelines (as in "four fried chickens, one Coke and 16 pepper steak sandwiches"). The Chicago manual disagrees, saying that all numbers in a series should be treated identically—either as words or numerals. If numerals apply to one number in a series, numerals should be used for all (as in "78 singers, 5 dancers and 114 musicians"). speeds:      AP's convention calls for numerals to express all speeds (as in "the marathon runners averaged 7 miles per hour" and "the boat's speed is 9 knots"). The Chicago manual makes no exceptions for speeds, so its general rules governing use of numbers apply. years:      AP says that years always should be expressed as numerals—even when beginning a sentence (as in: "2002 was the first year in which the company made a profit"). Chicago disagrees, saying that numerals should be used unless a year begins a sentence (as in "Two thousand two was the first year...").      Now here's one more set of numbers: try "one-two, three-four, one-two, three-four" with that samba rhythm. Yes! EditPros can help you express numerical references properly and consistently in your documents. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions John Bruhn submitted this month's question:      "I'm fascinated with airline announcements and their apparent need to be pseudo-technical. For example, flight attendants request that you put your electronic equipment into the 'off position'. Why not just say 'please turn it off?' Often a flight will begin its descent to the airport when it is about 30 minutes away from landing. About 10 minutes before landing, a flight attendant often will say," as we start our descent". Should not they say 'as we continue our descent'? I could go on with phrases that exasperate me. So, could you evaluate the airline announcements and suggest ways to make them more understandable and friendly to the passenger? Why do airline announcements need to imply high sophistication, when straightforward language would be best. I would like not to 'deplane,' but simply to leave the plane." The grammar coach replies:           Commercial airlines habitually use arcane terminology and jargon, in an apparent effort to impress and perhaps even intimidate passengers. On-board announcements to passengers typify the reliance on aviation vernacular.      "In the event of a water landing, your seat cushion will function as a flotation device," a flight attendant announces. How's that for a euphemistic reference to crashing into the sea? A seat cushion is a "device"? So where are the life preservers kept?      "We're about to begin our final descent to Cucamonga Airport," crackles another announcement over the loudspeakers. "Please stow your meal trays and return your seat backs to the upright position. We ask all passengers to remain seated with their seat belts fastened until the aircraft comes to a complete stop at the terminal gate. Please wait to deplane until we extinguish the 'fasten seat belts' sign."      Final descent? Does that mean the plane aborted a prior descent? "Final" is a troubling term to use in connection with flying; most passengers would hope that this is not, indeed, their "final" descent.      While "stow" is a technically proper term, most people would more easily understand a request to "fold up your meal tray."      Passengers board trains and buses at stations. Only airlines use a "terminal"—which constitutes another insensitive wording choice.      Any suggestion to "deplane" bring to mind actor Herve Villechaize, who in the role of "Tattoo" during the weekly introduction to the old Fantasy Island television series pointed upward to an approaching aircraft and in his French accent proclaimed, "Look! De plane! De plane!" People don't "decar," "debus," "deboat" or "debicycle." We'll disembark from or leave the plane, thank you.      And while you might think that you begin a flight by boarding a plane, some members of the airline industry have supplanted that term as well. The Web site of Orlando International Airport contains a glossary that actually includes the term "enplaned," which it defines as "A term used to describe a departing passenger."      And by the way, no one is going to wait for the "fasten seat belts" sign to be "extinguished"—if it's been ignited, we're all going to "deplane" in a mighty big hurry before the entire aircraft catches fire.      Thanks for submitting your question, John!      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. NET NOTES: Captivating Internet resources Crossword Tournament      Although puzzle enthusiasts will enjoy the on-line crossword puzzle pages, others will find useful content here as well. The anagram generators, dictionaries and other reference resources cited can be helpful to writers. Media watch: Who Owns What      This Web site identifies more than 50 of the largest media conglomerates and lists their individual American media holdings, including television and radio outlets, broadcast networks, cable channels and systems, newspapers, magazines, outdoor advertising companies, book publishing firms, motion picture production companies, sports teams, and other news, advertising and entertainment media properties. In addition, you'll find links to Columbia Journalism Review articles about media ownership. The site was established and is maintained by Aaron Moore, a professor of sports media at Ithaca College. WebDesignHelper      We advise our business clients to seek assistance of professional Web design firms to create corporate and organizational Internet sites. But if you'd like to launch a personal Web site, WebDesignHelper can help you. It contains numerous free resources, including more than 100 Web graphics, fonts and templates for Web pages, menus, Macromedia Flash animations and tables. This comprehensive site encompasses a discussion forum in which visitors can read discussion threads and post new questions. The site is based in Nottingham, England. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.           EditPros, established in 1993, performs writing, editing, proofreading and publication management services for newsletters, brochures, Web sites, annual reports, research studies, business proposals and other informational and marketing materials. Our office is in Davis, Calif., between Sacramento and San Francisco.      If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. Naturally, the finder's fee is applicable only to clients for which we have not worked previously.      This offer will remain in effect until further notice. YOUR TURN: Ask the "grammar coach" or subscribe      We invite you to submit your questions to the "grammar coach," and we welcome you to subscribe to this monthly newsletter—which we'll send to your e-mail address at no charge. We respond to all "grammar coach" questions personally, but delays may occur because we must place top priority on assignments from our clients. We appreciate your patience and your interest.      You also can change your e-mail subscription address. 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