# A hundred vs one hundred **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291 "2013-03-18T19:52:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/21 "2013-03-19T03:53:05Z")
If someone put that number in front of me, or I were reading it out of a book, I would say “one fifty six” without even thinking about it. If for whatever reason I was asked to repeat it or clarify what I had said, I would say “One hundred and fifty-six.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/22 "2013-03-19T07:59:31Z")
The ‘A’ vs ‘One’ and the ‘and’ thing are separate questions (I’m English, BTW): “One hundred and fifty-six” is what I would consider proper/formal (and is how I would write it, if for some reason I had to write it out in full), “A hundred and fifty-six” is casual/conversational - I would only write it this way in full if I was quoting verbatim. I realise it’s only familiarity and cultural inertia, but whenever I hear someone using the American form “One hundred fifty-six”, it sounds to my British ears like a short list, comprising the distinct and separate items: [ul] [li]One hundred[/li][li]Fifty-six[/li][/ul] That is, my perception adds in a spurious comma, so I hear: “One hundred, fifty-six” ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/23 "2013-03-19T23:00:14Z")
“One hundred fifty-six”. Otherwise [this riddle](http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_smallest_whole_number_that_uses_the_letter_A_in_it%27s_English_spelling) doesn’t quite pass muster. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/24 "2013-03-19T23:10:35Z")
I voted for “one hundred fifty six,” but I wouldn’t call that the _correct_ way: just the way I prefer to say it my ownself. Just as I prefer to type “my ownself” rather than"myself." 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/25 "2013-03-20T02:54:51Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > It’s the “and” that makes me twitch. I had a rather…vehement…teacher who lost his mind if you said “and” where there wasn’t a decimal. I had a couple of those teachers. You didn’t happen to go to school in Boulder, Colorado, did you? ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/26 "2013-03-20T04:11:15Z")
The use of AND is just wrong. AND denotes the decimal point and that was used for every math, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and other science class. I don’t think hick is the correct word but uneducated might be. How many ANDs do you write when you fill out a check? How about the number $140? Does anyone really say one hundred and forty dollars? Or if you got 25 cents: one hundred and forty dollars point two five dollars? I honestly believe you are all deluding yourselves into believing you say the AND in that location. 101 Dalmations is pronounced one hundred and one in order to emphasize the extra one thus the use of AND because it sounds funny! ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/27 "2013-03-20T04:19:05Z")
One hundred and fifty six. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/28 "2013-03-20T04:43:38Z")
No takers for “an hundred”? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/29 "2013-03-20T04:54:13Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Yes, it’s basically a question of US English versus British English . . .. No I don’t think that has much to do with it. It’s a question of preference and context. A lot of it is simply phonological. Sometimes it’s a matter of convention: How much is a Starbucks coffee? A dollar fifty-five. vs, One fifty-five. vs. One dollar and fifty-five cents. Except for people who work in science, it’s ridiculous to think that you can lay down strict rules for this. It certainly isn’t a question of grammar as the OP suggests. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/30 "2013-03-20T04:55:50Z")
Only the godless Brits use “and” in that way. But I still remember my seventh-grade math teacher in West Texas who tried to drum the “and” into us. She was certainly an exception there, and it didn’t take. > [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > One hundred point five six. > > Never -_ever_- point fifty six. > > Only ‘fifty six one hundreths’ if you want to look like an old fogey who just doesn’t cotton to this whole decimal fraction thing. Exactimundo. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/31 "2013-03-20T05:33:40Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > The use of AND is just wrong. AND denotes the decimal point and that was used for every math, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and other science class. I don’t think hick is the correct word but uneducated might be. How many ANDs do you write when you fill out a check? How about the number $140? Does anyone really say one hundred and forty dollars? Or if you got 25 cents: one hundred and forty dollars point two five dollars? I honestly believe you are all deluding yourselves into believing you say the AND in that location. > > 101 Dalmations is pronounced one hundred and one in order to emphasize the extra one thus the use of AND because it sounds funny! I like the cut of your jib my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/32 "2013-03-20T07:37:22Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > The use of AND is just wrong. AND denotes the decimal point and that was used for every math, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and other science class. I don’t think hick is the correct word but uneducated might be. How many ANDs do you write when you fill out a check? How about the number $140? Does anyone really say one hundred and forty dollars? Or if you got 25 cents: one hundred and forty dollars point two five dollars? I honestly believe you are all deluding yourselves into believing you say the AND in that location. > > 101 Dalmations is pronounced one hundred and one in order to emphasize the extra one thus the use of AND because it sounds funny! Can’t tell if serious. The use of AND in this context is completely standard and commonplace British usage. The author of the book named \* The One Hundred And One Dalmatians \*, Dodie Smith, was British ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/33 "2013-03-20T08:59:42Z")
I would never say one hundred forty dollars. It sounds weird and wrong, and I would be confused if anyone said it to me. I know what a ‘silver dollar’ is… What is a ‘forty dollar’ and where did you get a hundred of them? If I ever had to write out a cheque for $140.56 (fairly unlikely as it is no longer the twentieth century here), I would write “One hundred and forty dollars & 56c”. How’d you like them apples?! 100.56 is one hundred point five six. $143.79 is one hundred and forty three dollars and seventy nine cents. 1,142,586.12 is one million, one hundred and forty two thousand, five hundred and eighty six point one two. And no, Europeans, those commas are not decimal points. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/34 "2013-03-20T09:16:53Z")
I’ll always include the “and” as I reside in the English-speaking Commonwealth. But apart from that it’s a free-for-all on the fringe details. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/35 "2013-03-20T13:43:53Z")
I’m another person who had a teacher (actually, more than one) who was rigid about this. One hundred fifty-six. Decimals were read as (for 1.56) “one and fifty-six hundredths.” Say “point” instead and you were in serious trouble. Get caught with a calculator (as another student was) and you were in _epic_ trouble. :eek: Years later, when I learned the word schadenfreude, I immediately thought of this incident. See, I’d forgotten to do my math homework, and the teacher spent so much time yelling at the other kid that she never checked to see if we’d done our homework. And now kids are often encouraged to use calculators. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/36 "2013-03-20T14:07:28Z")
Let’s not pretend the ‘and’ is anything much more than convention though. Whilst I expect to use and hear it, it is somewhat anomalous, for example: “One hundred and one” (101) sounds correct to me, but for intervals between larger orders, the ‘and’ isn’t universally expected or required - it’s “one thousand, one hundred and one” (1,101), not: “one thousand \*\*and \*\*one hundred and one”. It only seems to be necessary between hundreds and tens+units. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/37 "2013-03-20T14:14:19Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I’m another person who had a teacher (actually, more than one) who was rigid about this. One hundred fifty-six. Decimals were read as (for 1.56) “one and fifty-six hundredths.” > > Say “point” instead and you were in serious trouble. . . . Oh, yes. Our teacher said, “Only the weather man says ‘point.’” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/38 "2013-03-20T15:08:23Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Yes, it’s basically a question of US English versus British English … > [@guizot](#): > > No I don’t think that has much to do with it. Oh yes it most certainly does. I have been all over this with the Brits I know here, and to a man they agree: Using “and” in numbers like these is by and large British usage. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/39 "2013-03-20T16:32:22Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Only the godless Brits use “and” in that way. But that’s most assuredly not true. Look at the trailer, in American English, for [101 Dalmatians](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XBJD-lxh078#t=91s) (cued up to the relevant part for your convenience.) It’s only one data point, but American English speakers absolutely use “and” in that manner. ETA: Or [this song for the animated seriesp](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=F4AJZOq3zKk#t=54s). Also “One hundred and one.” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291/40 "2013-03-20T17:31:47Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > You are going to get into national differences. I am English and say “a hundred and fifty-six”, but am aware that here in the US most people say “one hundred fifty-six”. I was born and raised in Northeast Ohio (the Western Reserve of Connecticut). The way we all grew up saying it is “a hundred and fifty-six,” which I feel as more colloquial. But I voted either is correct. Really, how is that even in question? Neither of them is incorrect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hundred-vs-one-hundred/653291.md?page=3)