Try this...

=COUNTIF(A1:A10,"<ditto")

The < operator means "not equal to". I find it easier to think of it as
meaning "is not".

Note that will count empty cells.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"justjill111" wrote in message
...
if i have the word 'ditto' scattered among a bunch of names (text), how do
i
count every value that's not 'ditto' ? am i trying to combine "COUNTIF"
value with "NOT" criterion...?