Charlie Plasters, SASS#60943 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 So this morning in the pre-dawn darkness, I get a call from nature and stagger half asleep to the bathroom, do my business, then waddle a little more awake back to my bed; but before my head hits the pillow a song pops into it. This has been happening a lot lately - usually Christmas carols which is really annoying and means I am not likely to get back to sleep. Today the song was The Twelveth of Never by Johnny Mathis I think. First off I got to contemplating how difficult it is to say that number. Easy to say eleventh or thirteenth but getting that v pronounced and saying the th not as a f is hard. Then I progressed on to more important number issues - why do we say first, second, third but thereafter go to saying the number with a th after it like 4th, oops fifth is close but not exact then back to 6th, 7th and so on up to 10th. Then we have eleven not oneteenth or even firstteenth, same with twelve not twoteenth or secondteenth - I could go on but you get the idea. Where did this numbering nomenclature come from ? Was it just because saying it the other possible ways sounded stupid? Oh, and think about how it seemingly gets violated when you get to the hundreds! The one hundred and first airborn could have been the one hundredth and oneth or the first hundred and oneth but then I guess nobody would have joined those units cause it sounded goofy. I know I need help -some kind of therapy is probably called for but what do I call it? Am I an alpoholic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I have no words! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 many of the first guys who joined the airborne did it for the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Kit Cool Gun Garth Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Charlie, Being or thinking sometimes like someone is one thing, but by definition "-holic" is a suffix forming nouns, indicating a person having an abnormal desire for or dependence on. More appropriate would be "alpooid", with "-oid" being a suffix meaning "resembling" or "like", but often implying an incomplete or imperfect resemblance to what is indicated by the preceding element. In layman terms, we can be like Alpo, but will never be Alpo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 1 minute ago, Father Kit Cool Gun Garth said: In layman terms, we can be like Alpo, but will never be Alpo. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocWard Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 57 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muleshoe Bill SASS #67022 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Not to be a downer BUT!!!!! the word is "TWELFTH" Now to prevent you from going full on AlPO!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Numbers got their suffixes and descriptors by a bunch of military guys on a bender in the days of King James. They were having a conversation about the number of drinks they had and the names of the numbers came naturally to them after a number of drinks. A Scribe for the King happened to be there and he documented the conversation to take it to the King's Mathematicians. You see the King sounded completely silly when speaking about numbers. For instance the King pronounced the number twelve normally but when describing the twelfth item in a set of a dozen or saying someone was "twelfth" in line he would say someone " was the One-two-eth" in line. For Thirteen he would say the One-Three-eth". Well, this wouldn't do because it made the King look stupid so the Scribe took the drunken ramblings that he had written to the Mathematicians and they in turn presented the idea to the King who liked it very much and that is how we ended up with the "St's and Th's" at the ends of numbers. I hope this helps. Pat (What's pulling your leg) Riot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tascosa, SASS# 24838 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I see its going to be a l-o-n-g winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Does this mean that I am the only one that says wonth, tooth, threeth? You can always say primero, segundo, tercero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I think Alpo has even said one halfth, one quarterth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Kit Cool Gun Garth Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 11 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: I think Alpo has even said one halfth, one quarterth Only after downing a maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoken D Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 I sure hope the rest of your day went better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 52 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: I think Alpo has even said one halfth, one quarterth That was back when I was a callow ute - one tooth, one threeth century, maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tascosa, SASS# 24838 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Thuffering thuckitash!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 O Lordy. I gots tears the size o' road apples coursing down my cheeks...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Plasters, SASS#60943 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 What FUN!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sedalia Dave Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Wonder how Kripke pronounces his numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 15 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! Why would anyone want to be? I have enough trouble living down being me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MizPete Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 On 1/3/2020 at 8:50 PM, Sedalia Dave said: Wonder how Kripke pronounces his numbers Don't even go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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