Unlucky Numbers Around the World

In Lucky Numbers Around The World, I talked about the significance of some numbers in particular cultures and why they consider the number "lucky".

Now, here are some not so lucky numbers around the world: 

• The Number 3. In Vietnam, people suppose that you shouldn't take photos with three people in it. Why? They believe that the person in the middle would die. (Didn't that escalate quickly?)

• The Number 4. In China, people believe that the number four is very, very unlucky, because the Chinese pronunciation of the word "four" (in Mandarin) sounds like the word death. This might also be the case on why some buildings skip any floors with 4 in it (So the buttons in he elevator might say 1,2,3,5...13,15... and so on). 

Did you know... that the fear of the number 4 is called "tetrophobia"?

Note that the fourth floor is missing. from tofugu.com

• The Number 9. Just like with the commotion above with China and the number 4, Japan has the same reason on why it hates the number nine. It sounds similar to the word for suffering.

• The Number 17. The Italians think that the number seventeen is unlucky because if you re-arrange the letters of the number in Roman Numerals (XVII), you can spell Vixi, which means "I have lived", portraying that one is already dead.

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Again, a number that struck my blog's pageview counter is 10,000! Thank you all for reading and supporting my blog. There will be more to come in 2014! 

See you lovely people again on Tuesday.

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Lucky Numbers Around The World

You might think of numbers as that annoying thing you just see in Math class (might as well add in the variables, huh?), but some numbers actually mean more in different cultures. Read on to find out more!

• The Number 7. In Egyptian Mythology, the number 7 is a symbol for being whole and perfect. Examples of the number seven which is depicted in Egyptian Mythology are the seven zigzag lines that form a pool (representing water) and the Nebu (Egyptian symbol for gold) had seven spines on its underside.

A nebu which represents gold. from egyptianmyths.net

• The Number 8. Another one for Chinese culture, the way you say the number eight sounds like the Chinese word for rich or wealthy. Maybe this was the reason on why the 2008 Beijing Olympics started on 8.08 in the evening. And you know what date the opening ceremony was? 8-8-2008!

Beijing 2008 Logo from wikipedia.org

• The Number 4. In Ireland, the number 4 is lucky because of the "lucky four-leaf clover" superstition. 

• The Number 13. Although considered unlucky in many areas around the world, the number 13 is lucky in Italy. This is perhaps because of an Italian betting game called "Totocalcio" which was based off Italian Football. The person who manage to correctly bet on 13 results won the largest part of a jackpot. (from http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080816091700AAECP31)

• The Number 1. In Greek Mythology, the Number 1 symbolizes the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite and the Greek god Apollo, the god of truth and beauty.

And finally, the Number 10,000. Maybe not lucky for a culture, but lucky for me. My blog just reached 10,000 pageviews. Thank you to everyone who read my blog, and to the people who refreshed it (*wink*). Hope you will continue to support and read my blog, because there will surely be more to come this 2014. 

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Part 2 (Unlucky Numbers) Coming Out on Saturday!

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