# "twenty-six hundred and two" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819 "2017-12-07T19:37:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/21 "2017-12-08T17:39:31Z")
With such a large number, it seems weird to be so specific. “Over twenty-six hundred locations” conveys how widespread they are. If you’re smaller, it’s seems fine to say exactly how many. “We have 17 stores in the greater metro area”. Not sure where the cut off would be, but it’s well below two thousand. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/22 "2017-12-08T18:00:19Z")
That’s the way I’d say that number. I’ve never really thought about it before, but for a four-digit number I’d only say “thousand” if the hundreds place is a zero. 2600 = Twenty-six hundred 2602 = Twenty-six hundred and two 2650 = Twenty-six hundred and fifty, or just Twenty-six fifty 2000 = Two thousand 2002 = Two thousand and two 2050 = Two thousand and fifty ---
**Author:** ![pieceoftheuniverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@pieceoftheuniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pieceoftheuniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/23 "2017-12-08T18:12:23Z")
I was taught that, when reading out numbers, “and” is used to denote the decimal place. Going off of **borschevsky** ’s list, I’d say: 2600 = Twenty-six hundred 2602 = Two thousand six hundred two 2650 = Two thousand six hundred fifty 2000 = Two thousand 2002 = Two thousand two 2050 = Two thousand fifty It just sounds strange to me to put an “and” where there isn’t a decimal. 2600.2 only makes some degree of sense if one of the places had only started construction. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/24 "2017-12-08T18:45:00Z")
In military speak, specifically in artillery: 2600: two six hundred 2602: two six zero two Never twenty six hundred… ---
**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:** [December 8, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/25 "2017-12-08T19:34:01Z")
> [@pieceoftheuniverse](#): > > It just sounds strange to me to put an “and” where there isn’t a decimal. Clearly, from what I’ve read on the Dope, some people were either taught this way or that was the local dialect. Or maybe it’s a generational thing. It seems to be mostly confined to the US. Even though I was born and grew up in the US, I was never taught such a rule. Like the trailer I linked to above, it was perfectly normal and usual to say “One hundred and one dalmatians.” You could also say “one hundred one.” Nobody would bat an eye either way, but I prefer the rhythm of the phrase that includes the “and.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/26 "2017-12-08T19:40:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Clearly, from what I’ve read on the Dope, some people were either taught this way or that was the local dialect. Or maybe it’s a generational thing. It seems to be mostly confined to the US. Even though I was born and grew up in the US, I was never taught such a rule. Like the trailer I linked to above, it was perfectly normal and usual to say “One hundred and one dalmatians.” You could also say “one hundred one.” Nobody would bat an eye either way, but I prefer the rhythm of the phrase that includes the “and.” FWIW, in British English the “and” is mandatory. We never say “one hundred one”, although of course we would understand it - and assume the speaker was American. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/27 "2017-12-08T19:47:11Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > FWIW, in British English the “and” is mandatory. We never say “one hundred one”, although of course we would understand it - and assume the speaker was American. When spoken I almost always say one hundred and one. I think most in the USA do? When writing a check I leave out the and. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/28 "2017-12-08T19:49:35Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > When spoken I almost always say one hundred and one. I think most in the USA do? When writing a check I leave out the and. Interesting. As a Brit living in the U.S., I may be hypercorrecting by trying to leave out my native “and” in speech. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/29 "2017-12-08T20:30:06Z")
Thinking about this some more, in casual speech I would not say either “thousand” or “hundred” with a four-digit number, unless it was exactly an even hundred/thousand. It would always just be the two two-digit parts, like “twenty-six fifty” or “twenty thirty-two”. But if I were being a bit more formal, I’d construct it the way I described before. With people talking about “and” with the decimal point, are you meaning cases where you’d give a fraction? As in, “two thousand and two tenths”? I would when using fractions as well, but normally I’d read such a number as “two thousand point two”. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/30 "2017-12-08T23:02:57Z")
I was taught to say twenty six hundred and two. That’s also how you fill out a check. 2602.00 in the upper right corner Twenty-six hundred and Two and No/100-------------------- That’s the kiddies checking writing lesson for today. 😉 ---
**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:** [December 8, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/31 "2017-12-08T23:19:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I was taught to say twenty six hundred and two. > > That’s also how you fill out a check. > > 2602.00 in the upper right corner > > Twenty-six hundred and Two and No/100-------------------- > > That’s the kiddies checking writing lesson for today. 😉 See, for checks, I drop that first “and.” That’s one place I actually was taught to only use the “and” before the fractional cent amount. In speech, though, I use the “and.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/32 "2017-12-08T23:31:19Z")
For checks, I sometimes drop that first “and” too. Depends on how small I feel like writing. Space can be a problem writing large amounts. Funny that for hundreds its rare to ever hear someone say “and”. You owe me three hundred twenty-two dollars. For thousands, the "and"is common. You owe me three thousand and twenty-two dollars ---
**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:** [December 8, 2017, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/33 "2017-12-08T23:53:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Funny that for hundreds its rare to ever hear someone say “and”. > > You owe me three hundred twenty-two dollars. I don’t find it rare at all. Like I said above, “one hundred and one dalmatians.” ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/34 "2017-12-09T03:58:42Z")
The book “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”, which the film is based on, was written by Dodie Smith, who was English. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/35 "2017-12-09T04:48:27Z")
No no no. It’s: One Hundred One Dalmations Snow White Seven Dwarfs 😃 On checks I drop the and for thousands and also for hundreds. Three thousand two hundred seventeen and xx/100 — I usually keep that last and. If you keep the ands, sometimes there isn’t enough room on the line to write it out. I just paid my property taxes. Not a small check. ☹ ---
**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:** [December 9, 2017, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/36 "2017-12-09T06:53:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The book “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”, which the film is based on, was written by Dodie Smith, who was English. I don’t think it really matters, as the title is presented as “101 Dalmatians” and few care or know where the author is from and would read the title based on their local dialect. It’s perfectly idiomatic in my US dialect. Same with similar constructions like “101 ways to …” type lists. For example, here’s a random [Youtube video](https://youtu.be/zCaIwVScNtc?t=47) of “101 ways to ditch your friends.” They say “one hundred and one” there. As others here have said, it’s quite common in the US to leave the “and” in, just like the British do. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/37 "2017-12-09T08:30:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s not a mistake. The only thing odd about it is perhaps the use of hundreds, but I use it the same way with years. “In the year nineteen hundred and two,” for instance. I would say “nineteen-oh-two” for the year 1902. However, I would say 2002 a bit differently. “Two thousand and two” sounds better to me than “twenty-oh-two” would. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/38 "2017-12-09T14:18:55Z")
This thread is all over the place: Some are discussing whether the ‘and’ should be omitted; some whether the precision is needed; but I thought OP was just interested in the difference between “twenty-six hundred and (whatever)” and "“two thousand, six hundred and (whatever).” And on that issue I come down strongly on the side of … _ **I don’t know how usually I read such a number.** _ :eek: I _think_ I’m more likely to utter the “twenty-six hundred and …” form _ **but now I may never know.** _ :smack: My only hope now is have someone bludgeon me on the head with sufficient strength that I forget this thread and then have the bludgeoner ask me to read such a number. I’d report the results of that experiment … except that for the experiment to be unbiased I’d have already forgotten this thread. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819/39 "2017-12-09T15:51:54Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > No, “Twenty-six hundred and two” is an arithmetic problem. The listener must actually do the math (hopefully mentally) to know what the sum is. 🙂 Ironically, this is why I LIKE having the “and.” Most of my kids can quickly figure out that 300 + 42=342. But some kids struggle with the underlying principle (a multiple of 100 plus a 2-digit number means you say the multiple of 100 followed by the 2-digit number). Since we sometimes say “and” instead of “plus,” retaining the “and” in the three-digit number can help those kids make the connection: “Three hundred, and forty two, equals three hundred and forty two.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/twenty-six-hundred-and-two/803819.md?page=1)