A lot of American skyscrapers don’t have a 13th floor, in the sense of a floor with that designation, because the number was thought to be bad luck.
In East Asia, the number omitted is four. The word for four and the word for death are the same syllable with only a slightly different pronunciation.
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ReplyDeleteI looked for a way to edit the comment, but can't find one. Since I phrased it in a way that was wrong, I decided to delete it and then just say, don't give 4 of something as a gift in Japan, for the same reason Grim mentions.
DeleteIn Japanese as well. This is also why you don't give gifts in multiples of 4....
ReplyDeleteWould that rule out place settings for 8, as well? On the other hand, 8 is a lucky number in Chinese, according to some friends of mine, emigres from the PRC and from the RoC.
On the other other hand, 8 is highly infelicitous to the Atevi in CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series.
Everybody has issues with numbers.
Eric Hines
No, now that I look at what I wrote, I was wrong. It's not multiples at all. I just meant, you don't give 4 of something as a gift. The words for 4 and death are homonyms, that's all. It's not about the number itself.
Delete@Thomas Doubting
ReplyDeleteBoth words are pronounced "shi". In fact, Japanese has an alternate word for four---"yon"---which is used more often than "shi".
Indeed. Do you speak Japanese?
DeleteI've read Ogden Nash's venture into horror "A Tale of the Thirteenth Floor". I wonder, in Chinese and Japanese, is it rendered as the fourth floor?
ReplyDelete