Q. Which is correct: 12,000,000 or 12 million?
Q. At work I was questioned about the use of numerals versus words in the following sentence: “Table 7 reports the number of cases in which individual debtors filed for protection under Chapter 13 and stated on Official Form 1 that they had filed a case during the preceding eight years.” I had previously explained to this person that if you use numerals for a number greater than 10 in one part of a sentence, you should also use numerals for other similar numbers in that sentence that normally would be spelled out. When she read the sentence cited above, she asked why the second-to-last word (eight) wasn’t replaced with a numeral (8), given that I had used numerals earlier in that sentence. I explained that the other numerals were part of the title of a table, bankruptcy law chapter, and form, so they weren’t in the same category as the last number and thus did not require me to write “8 years.” Am I correct?
Q. When working with technical material, what symbol should I use between dimensions? For instance, in CMOS 3.27, the following example has a symbol that doesn’t seem to match either a multiplication symbol or a lowercase x, and the symbol is elevated above the baseline: “Oil on canvas, 45 × 38 cm.” What is that symbol called, and where is it discussed in the Manual?
Q. I’m editing an article submitted to an anthropological journal, and the author refers to someone being paid “2000 Euros” for one night. Is this an acceptable way to say it, or should the € sign be used?
Q. I edit math textbooks for American students, and although we have a copy of your fine manual in the office, I need help with a query from a writer. When a number is written in words, do you separate the values with a comma: e.g., four thousand three hundred and twenty-one; or, four thousand, three hundred, and twenty-one? Hope you can help.
Q. Do you have a policy about this pet peeve of mine? I think it is fine to write something like “My office hours are 10–11 AM,” but it really seems wrong when the en-dash is used in place of the word and or to. How can we make the world stop writing “My office hours are from 10–11 AM” or “My office hours are between 10–11 AM”?
Q. I am taking a college course in copyediting. My professor and I were having a discussion and I would like to know who is correct. We were presented with this sentence for correction: Of the 400 members, about 300 were over 60 years old, but at least 50 were under the age of 30. I understand the rules stated in CMOS 9.2 and 9.4 would apply here and require all of the numbers to be spelled out. However, I chose to leave the 60 and 30 in numerical form in accordance with 9.7, which says that an exception can be made “to avoid a thickly clustered group of spelled-out numbers.” There are no guidelines that state when to apply the exception, nor are there examples to lead me to a definitive answer. Help please. How do you decide?
Q. Is it correct to say $3–5 million? Or should it be $3 to $5 million? Or $3 million to $5 million?
Q. CMOS 9.37 seems pretty straightforward: “Times of day in even, half, and quarter hours are usually spelled out in text.” I’m an editor on contract with one of the larger self-publishing companies. I recently got this note from an editorial staffer: “In several instances, you changed references like 1:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. to one a.m. and ten p.m. . . . If you have found specific Chicago rules to support the changes you’ve made, please let me know and I’ll be happy to pass the manuscript through as is. However, I don’t know of a rule that would allow that. If you don’t know of one either, would you please change the time references with a.m. and p.m. back to numeral form and resend?” For seven years, I’ve been spelling out times of day ending with :00, :15, :30, and :45, with or without a.m./p.m., if they did not seem particularly significant in context. This is the first time it has been called into question.
Q. What is the correct way to report ages of people? In what cases, if any, would it be acceptable to use numerals? Our company’s style guide follows CMOS, but suggests using figures in reporting ages. I appreciate your guidance.