I've been wanting to make this one up for a while. I'll post what I've come up with here... Please fee free to rework these and make suggestions. I haven't actually used them while transcribing yet so I don't know how practical they are - perhaps someone has some better ideas???

fe46 = 4 feet 6 inches
fe47 = 4 feet 7 inches
fe48 = 4 feet 8 inches
fe49 = 4 feet 9 inches
fe410 = 4 feet 10 inches
fe411 = 4 feet 11 inches
fe5 = 5 feet
fe51 = 5 feet 1 inch
fe52 = 5 feet 2 inches
fe53 = 5 feet 3 inches
fe54 = 5 feet 4 inches
fe55 = 5 feet 5 inches
fe56 = 5 feet 6 inches
fe57 = 5 feet 7 inches
fe58 = 5 feet 8 inches
fe59 = 5 feet 9 inches
fe510 = 5 feet 10 inches
fe511 = 5 feet 11 inches
fe6 = 6 feet
fe61 = 6 feet 1 inch
fe62 = 6 feet 2 inches
fe63 = 6 feet 3 inches
fe64 = 6 feet 4 inches
fe65 = 6 feet 5 inches
fe66 = 6 feet 6 inches

fo46 = 4-foot-6-inch
fo47 = 4-foot-7-inch
fo48 = 4-foot-8-inch
fo49 = 4-foot-9-inch
fo410 = 4-foot-10-inch
fo411 = 4-foot-11-inch
fo5 = 5-foot
fo51 = 5-foot-1-inch
fo52 = 5-foot-2-inch
fo53 = 5-foot-3-inch
fo54 = 5-foot-4-inch
fo55 = 5-foot-5-inch
fo56 = 5-foot-6-inch
fo57 = 5-foot-7-inch
fo58 = 5-foot-8-inch
fo59 = 5-foot-9-inch
fo510 = 5-foot-10-inch
fo511 = 5-foot-11-inch
fo6 = 6-foot
fo61 = 6-foot-1-inch
fo62 = 6-foot-2-inch
fo63 = 6-foot-3-inch
fo64 = 6-foot-4-inch
fo65 = 6-foot-5-inch
fo66 = 6-foot-6-inch


**Modified to add dashes in the foot/inch shorts.**
**Modified to correct the fo54 and fe54 shorts**

What a great idea!!

And since I prefer the number first:
46fo = 4-foot-6-inchos
47fo = 4-foot-7-inchos
48fo = 4-foot-8-inchos
49fo = 4-foot-9-inchos
410fo = 4-foot-10-inchos
411fo = 4-foot-11-inchos
5fo = 5-foot
51fo = 5-foot-1-inch
52fo = 5-foot-2-inchos
53fo = 5-foot-3-inchos
54fo = 5-foot-5-inchos
55fo = 5-foot-5-inchos
56fo = 5-foot-6-inchos
57fo = 5-foot-7-inchos
58fo = 5-foot-8-inchos
59fo = 5-foot-9-inchos
510fo = 5-foot-10-inchos
511fo = 5-foot-11-inchos
6fo = 6-foot
61fo = 6-foot-1-inch
62fo = 6-foot-2-inchos
63fo = 6-foot-3-inchos
64fo = 6-foot-4-inchos
65fo = 6-foot-5-inchos
66fo = 6-foot-6-inchos
67fo = 6-foot-7-inchos
68fo = 6-foot-8-inchos

46fe = 4 feet 6 inches
47fe = 4 feet 7 inches
48fe = 4 feet 8 inches
49fe = 4 feet 9 inches
410fe = 4 feet 10 inches
411fe = 4 feet 11 inches
5fe = 5 feet
51fe = 5 feet 1 inch
52fe = 5 feet 2 inches
53fe = 5 feet 3 inches
54fe = 5 feet 5 inches
55fe = 5 feet 5 inches
56fe = 5 feet 6 inches
57fe = 5 feet 7 inches
58fe = 5 feet 8 inches
59fe = 5 feet 9 inches
510fe = 5 feet 10 inches
511fe = 5 feet 11 inches
6fe = 6 feet
61fe = 6 feet 1 inch
62fe = 6 feet 2 inches
63fe = 6 feet 3 inches
64fe = 6 feet 4 inches
65fe = 6 feet 5 inches
66fe = 6 feet 6 inches
67fe = 6 feet 7 inches
68fe = 6 feet 8 inches

I thought I read some where or was told by an instructor that if foot is dictated and the number is bigger than 1 you should change to feet, as foot is singular. I do this in all my dictations and have never gotten anything from QA saying not to.... Has anyone else heard of this?

I suppose it depends on your account. You are rarely wrong if you type exactly what is said. But most acoounts will encourage you to fix poor grammar, and correcting plurals is fixing poor grammar. Some accounts are verbatim over all.

Sadly, it's all based on the golden rule- them that has the gold makes the rules.

Lazy, your instructor is correct. Don't stop doing what you are doing. But as Georg says, you can run into all types of situations. Even docs who will insist you put exactly what they say when it is clearly wrong, wrong, wrong! Fortunately, the majority don't do that, I find. I think they appreciate transcriptionists fine-tuning their poor grammar habits. If QA is happy, you be happy, and until you are told that so-and-so wants it such and such a way, or that you must type verbatim, continue on!

Hi there,

I did the "5 foot 6 inch" versions for when the doc is dictating, "This 5 foot 6 inch woman, who weighs...." (But... Should there be hypens in that scenario?) Like Harrie said, there are so many variations on these when the docs are dictating... Does anyone else have any others?

Thanks, georg, for adding your style!

There was a very good discusson of the foot/feet and hyphen/no hyphen issues on the Grammar and Style forum over at MT Chat just lately.

Style guides for typing height.

For those who don't want to read the whole thread:

If the phrase is being used as an adjective, you should use the singular forms (foot and inch), and Paula is correct--you need hyphens.

Thanks, Sheila. I've edited my original post to add dashes for the foot/inch shorts.

Thanks, I didn't even think about it being used as an adjective, duh!! I haven't run into that a lot in my whole 1 year as a medical transcriptionist.

Don't feel bad about it, LazyMT. There were much more experienced MTs in that thread on MTChat who were having trouble getting a handle on the right way to type those.

It's always good to go to your reputable grammar and style manuals and look things like this up. None of us know it all, and many of us learned a way of doing things on one job or another that may not be the preferred or truly correct way.

Do remember, everyone, that none of us are proofing any of the lists posted here, so you need to check and verify before just blindly adding things to your expander. There are bound to be some style mistakes in some things posted, and there are certainly going to be some typos here and there. In addition, people use different systems for their shorts, and you probably want to use a system for yours that is as consistent as possible. So take what appears here as models and suggestions, do some cutting and pasting to save yourself time, but always look things over carefully and do any necessary editing before incorporating any lists into your personal expander.

I read the suggested thread, but I am wondering why you need quite so many hyphens? Can't you just say a 6-foot 3-inch male? Actually, I think I usually use a comma in there, like 6-foot, 3-inch male. Or is it because it's all part of the height measurement or something?

(Also, why is it so common for people, myself included, to type hypens instead of hyphens? LOL)

"FarAwayDeb"

According to the book of style (this is from edition 1 so it has change please advise)
* Do not use a comma or other punctuation between units of the same dimension.

Examples:
The infant weighed 5 pounds 3 ounces.
The patient is 5 feet 4 inches tall.

It does not give the example of using it as an adjective, so here is what Gregg says about that:
* If the measurement is used as a compound modifier before a noun, use hyphens to connect all the elements as a single unit.

Example:
A 6-foot-8-inch basketball player.


But in OB/GYN(I get this wrong all the time) you do use commas to separate gravida, para, and abortus. TPAL is separted by hyphens.

I see what you mean about the word hyphen.