word into a value in excel

[heli500]

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone out there can help me out. I am trying to give words in a list a unique number value in excel. Is there a way to format the cell so that dog would equal a number and door would equal a different number?

Thanks

 

[jbconnection]

Try This: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Excel-1059/Assigning-Values-1.htm

Using VLOOKUP.. Its like using another column where you can store the values of the words..

I'm not sure if this helps.. haven't tried it yet