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Let’s talk about… uh… spelling things out?

So, like, with numbers. 1, 2, 3, 12… and so on.
Generally, when it comes to numbers, if it’s a small number you should spell out the word.
So you’d spell out things like one, twelve, forty-two, and the like.
Also, spelling out large numbers that are simple (such as saying “one million” instead of 1,000,000) is probably a good idea, but spelling out a large number that’s complicated (like 1,967,436) might be less of a good idea.
I think there’s a threshold for which numbers are too large to spell out, but I’ll be damned if I look it up.

(Also note: when spelling out numbers, 140 is one hundred forty, not one hundred and forty.)

It’s usually considered a good idea to spell out things that might otherwise be abbreviated. Generally, when writing a story or something, you would probably be better off spelling out “November” instead of “Nov”, and depending on the situation you might be better off spelling out “Mister” instead of writing “Mr”. “Pounds” instead of “lbs” may also be good.
Of course, this can vary depending on context. For example, in a science paper, abbreviated units is probably a good idea, and I don’t think anyone would ever kill you for saying “Mr. Smith” instead of “Mister Smith”.
But I have met some English teachers who can be finicky about this, and I’ve seen some writers who use way too many abbreviations. It really doesn’t kill you to spell out words once in a while, you know!

Going in the other direction, I’ve seen some writers write out “see-oh-two” instead of “CO2” in character dialogue. That’s a little farther than I’d go with it, but damn if it isn’t classy.

This isn’t really something I get really pissed about, but it’s good to point out.