From: Justin Collins <collinsj@...>
Date: 2006-05-11T06:38:59+09:00
Subject: Re: Thanks Ruby Quiz!Se

Ray Baxter wrote:
> Charlie Bowman wrote:
>
>> Do you guys think that the and should be removed except for floats?
>
> No.
>
> Google shows about 54,200 hits on "one hundred and twenty three"
> but only about 42,900 on "one hundred twenty three."
>
> I can't imagine the justification for why "and" is only proper for 
> floats. "One hundred and twenty three" is idiomatic English, both in 
> the US and UK.
>
> "In the year of our Lord, Seventeen Hundred and Seventy Six."
>
> "Four score and seven years ago."
>
> "Four and twenty blackbirds."
>
> Just because you can also say "seventeen hundred seventy six," "one 
> thousand seven hundred seventy six," "eighty seven" and "twenty four" 
> doesn't make the former improper.
>
My original point was not that serious...it can be left as-is without a 
problem.

For more information than anyone probably needs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Numbers

-Justin