Maybe numbers are not so scary after all . . .
Candace: What is the number 2’s favorite day of the week?
Ophelia: Twosday!
Counting
Here I come number one
Like an ostrich I can run
Here I come number two
Bouncing like a kangaroo
Here I come number three
Squich, squich, squich like a chimpanzee
Here I come number four
Like a lion I can roar
Here I come number five
Teach the elephants how to jive
Here I come number six
Monkeys doing lots of tricks
Here I come number seven
Eagles soar up to Heaven
Here I come number eight
Flamingoes stand so tall and straight
Here I come number nine
Penguins marching in a line
Here I come number ten
The animals shout, “Let’s begin again!”
by Author Unknown
Question: Why did the two 4’s skip lunch?
Answer: They already 8.
Four is the only number that when spelled out has as many letters. Forty is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order. One is the only number whose letters are in reverse alphabetical order. Do you know any additional trivia about numbers?
The Garden
One, two, three,
The garden is growing.
Four, five, six,
Now it needs hoeing.
Seven, eight, nine,
Down go the weeds.
Ten, eleven, twelve,
Water it needs.
Thirteen, fourteen,
Here comes a shower.
Fifteen, sixteen,
A carrot and a flower!
by Author Unknown
Caveman Ugh: What numbers for?
Caveman Ogh: Me thinks between three and five!
Can you imagine trying to count without numbers?
“Most people count with numbers. While some people have tried to count with flavors or colors, they usually get results that nobody can figure out.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read the Beaumont’s Quotations article.
The number 4 is the only number in the English language that has the same number of letters in its name as in its meaning.
“Lots of people can’t count to 10. They are usually the ones in front of you of you in the supermarket express lane.” -Sam Ewing (1920 - 2001): as quoted in “The Saturday Evening Post” (29 November 1996)
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Want.
Want, who?
Good, now try counting to three!
“Some people say one is the loneliest number, but it also must be a very brave and strong little number to stand all on its own.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Problem: On your way to Clown College, you count twenty houses on your right, and on your way home, you count twenty houses on your left. How many houses have you counted in total?
Solution: Twenty, because you counted the same houses both times!
Our modern-day system of numbers is often erroneously called ‘Arabic numerals’ and people commonly assume it was devised by Arabs, but it was invented by Arya Bhatta, an Indian Hindu, so to be accurate and give proper credit where credit is due, it must be called ‘Indian numerals’ or perhaps ‘Bhatta numbers.’
Number Writing Poem
Down you run
And 1 is done.
Around, and down, and out go you,
That’s the way to make a 2.
Around, and around, just like a bee,
That’s the way to make a 3.
Down, across, and down once more,
That’s the way to make a 4.
Short neck, belly fat,
Number 5 wears a hat.
Down, around, in a circle you go,
That’s a six, just as you know.
Straight across, slide down from Heaven,
That’s the way to make a 7.
First a snake, then come back straight,
That’s the way to make an 8.
First a ball and then a line,
That’s the way to make a 9.
Tall straight, circle then,
That’s the way to make a 10.
by Author Unknown
Zero is the first and only number that contains a letter ‘z.’ Although ‘zillion’ also contains a z, it is not an actual number, but a term for a vague, undefined large quantity.
Randy: Why is 6 afraid of 7?
Randall: Because 7, 8, 9!
If you were to start counting right now nonstop for twenty-four hours every day, you would be more than 31,000 years old by the time you counted up to one trillion. 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . did we mention that you would also be very sleepy, since you would be counting twenty-four hours a day without sleep?
There once was a town in West Virginia, United States of America called ‘6.’
Take a Number
Imagine a world
Without mathematics
No rulers or scales
No inches or feet
No dates or numbers
On house or street
No prices or weights
No determining heights
No hours running through
Days and nights
No zero, no birthdays
No way to subtract
All of the guesswork
Surrounding the fact
No sizes for shoes
Or suit or hat
Wouldn’t it be awful
To live like that?
by Mary O’Neill
Zero: A nice round number.
A simpleton was watching the news with her friend. The newscaster said, “There was a plane crash today. Seven Austrians and two Brazilians are among those missing.” The simpleton turned to her friend and said, “Oh, my, goodness! What a disaster! How many are in a Brazilian?”
What comes after a million, a billion, and a trillion? A quadrillion, a quintillion, a sextillion, a septillion, an octillion, a nonillion, a decillion, and an undecillion.
“There are three types of people: those who know how to count, and those who do not.” -Author Unknown
Why is ‘quite a few’ the same as ‘quite a lot’?
One ‘googol’ is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. A ‘googolplex’ is the number 1 followed by a googol zeros, a number so ridiculously big that it cannot be written, because there is not enough room in the Universe to fit it in. In fact, one googolplex is a number so big that there is not even enough matter in the Universe to form all the zeros in it.
“My wife told me to stop speaking in numbers. But I didn’t 1 2.” -Author Unknown
According to the latest news, we are running out of numbers and soon we will not be able to count things. Trading in the number 14 has been frozen as the number hit dizzying heights in the stock market before yesterday’s closing bell. Shoppers have been reporting that they are finding local retailers are completely sold out of the number 20. Numbers expert Adam Uppe has written two best-selling books on the subject, titled “How to Survive the Coming Number Shortage” and “Living in a World Without Numbers,” both from Zero to Infinity Publishing Company.
Attie: What 5-digit number has 6 left when 2 is taken away from it?
Attila: Sixty, which becomes six when two letters are taken away.
“Number rules the universe.” -Pythagoras (Pythagoras of Samos (570 B.C.E. - 495 B.C.E.)): as quoted in E. Maor: “The Story of a Number” (1905) by E. Maor
“Number rules the Universe.”
Arithmophobia, also known as numerophobia, is a fear of numbers generally, but can also refer to a fear of math, numerals, certain numbers, calculations, or calculus. In schools, it is more commonly known as ‘math anxiety.’ The condition is fortunately not common, but for the few who do suffer from it, it is quite serious. Perhaps singing silly songs containing numbers could help console those frazzled few?
Annie: In what way is the number 9 like a peacock?
Ian: It is nothing without its tail.
Numbers and Counting Facts
- A few is 2 to ‘not many’ of something.
- A couple or a pair is two of something.
- A triple or a triplet is three of something.
- A quadruple or a quadruplet is four of something.
- A dozen is twelve of something.
- A baker’s dozen is 12 + 1, or 13, of something.
- A gross is a dozen dozens, which is 12 x 12 or 144.
- A score is twenty of something.
Astor: How much is it?
Roscoe: It will cost you three dozen dollars.
Triskaidekaphobia is a persistent fear of the number 13. ‘Triskaidekaphobia’ is derived from the Greek words ‘tris’ meaning ‘three,’ ‘kai’ meaning ‘and,’ ‘deka’ meaning ‘ten,’ and ‘phobos’ meaning ‘fear.’ Many buildings have no 13th floor because some people associate the number 13 with bad luck. The buildings have a 12th floor, and right above that is a floor designated as the 14th floor.
Nadine: What did the 0 say to the 8?
Tanya: “Nice belt.”
“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” -Author Unknown
Can you figure out any of the following?
2 + 2 = Fish.
3 + 3 = 8.
7 + 7 = Triangle.
The number 2 is the only number greater than zero that when added to or multiplied by itself gives the same result: 4.
Amanda: What do the numbers 11 and 69 and 88 all have in common?
Amy: They can all be flipped upside down and still be the same.
While visiting Annapolis, a man noticed several students on their hands and knees assessing the courtyard with pencils and clipboards in hand. “What are they doing?” he asked the tour guide. “Each year,” the tour guide replied with a grin, “the upperclassmen ask the freshmen how many bricks it took to finish paving this courtyard.” “So what’s the answer?” my friend asked him when we were out of earshot of the freshmen. The guide replied, “Just one.”
Names for the number ‘0’ include zero, naught, nil, zilch, and zip.
Meredith: Do you know what is special about the number 8,549,176,320?
Merry: It contains the numbers zero through nine in alphabetical order.
Riddle:
My head and tail both equal are.
My middle is slender as a bee.
Whether I stand on head or heel
is quite the same to you or me.
But if my top half should be removed,
the matter’s true though passing strange,
Because then I to nothing would change.
What am I?
Answer:
I am a number 8.
Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced onety-one or eleventeen?
Steve: How do you make the number one disappear?
Yvette: Add a ‘g’ to it and it is ‘gone’!
Numbers and Counting Quiz
- What number comes between 12 and 14?
- What happens when you write a 0 (zero) after any other number?
- Why do we need numbers?
- How many is a few?
- How many is a couple or a pair?
- How many is a triple or triplet?
- How many is a quadruple or quadruplet?
- How many is a dozen?
- How many is a baker’s dozen?
- How many is a gross?
- If a score is twenty, how many is four score and seven?
Bertha: I am number that rhymes with more - what am I?
Brenda: You are four.
Numbers and Counting Quiz Answers
- The number between 12 and 14 is 13.
- Writing ‘0’ or zero after a number increases the value of the number by ten times.
- We need numbers so that we can count things.
- A few is 2 to ‘not many’ of something.
- A couple or a pair is 2 of something.
- A triple or a triplet is 3 of something.
- A quadruple or quadruplet is 4 of something.
- A dozen is 12 of something.
- A baker’s dozen is 12 + 1, or 13.
- A gross is 144, or 12 x 12, of something.
- Four score and seven is (4 x 20) + 7, or 87.
“If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give Fido only two of them.” -Phil Pastoret
“When you have mastered the numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading a book. You will be reading meanings.” -Harold ‘Hal’ Sydney Geneen (1910 - 1997): “Managing” (1985), Chapter Nine: ‘The Numbers,’ page 151
One: Slightly more than none.
We are MFOL! . . . where we make every number count . . . now let’s all go count something . . . after that we can alphabetize something . . . or maybe sort laundry . . .
Candace: What is the number 2’s favorite day of the week?
Ophelia: Twosday!
Counting
Here I come number one
Like an ostrich I can run
Here I come number two
Bouncing like a kangaroo
Here I come number three
Squich, squich, squich like a chimpanzee
Here I come number four
Like a lion I can roar
Here I come number five
Teach the elephants how to jive
Here I come number six
Monkeys doing lots of tricks
Here I come number seven
Eagles soar up to Heaven
Here I come number eight
Flamingoes stand so tall and straight
Here I come number nine
Penguins marching in a line
Here I come number ten
The animals shout, “Let’s begin again!”
by Author Unknown
Question: Why did the two 4’s skip lunch?
Answer: They already 8.
Four is the only number that when spelled out has as many letters. Forty is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order. One is the only number whose letters are in reverse alphabetical order. Do you know any additional trivia about numbers?
The Garden
One, two, three,
The garden is growing.
Four, five, six,
Now it needs hoeing.
Seven, eight, nine,
Down go the weeds.
Ten, eleven, twelve,
Water it needs.
Thirteen, fourteen,
Here comes a shower.
Fifteen, sixteen,
A carrot and a flower!
by Author Unknown
Caveman Ugh: What numbers for?
Caveman Ogh: Me thinks between three and five!
Can you imagine trying to count without numbers?
“Most people count with numbers. While some people have tried to count with flavors or colors, they usually get results that nobody can figure out.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Continue scrolling down this website page to read the rest of the article, or click or tap on these words to read the Beaumont’s Quotations article.
The number 4 is the only number in the English language that has the same number of letters in its name as in its meaning.
“Lots of people can’t count to 10. They are usually the ones in front of you of you in the supermarket express lane.” -Sam Ewing (1920 - 2001): as quoted in “The Saturday Evening Post” (29 November 1996)
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Want.
Want, who?
Good, now try counting to three!
“Some people say one is the loneliest number, but it also must be a very brave and strong little number to stand all on its own.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
Problem: On your way to Clown College, you count twenty houses on your right, and on your way home, you count twenty houses on your left. How many houses have you counted in total?
Solution: Twenty, because you counted the same houses both times!
Our modern-day system of numbers is often erroneously called ‘Arabic numerals’ and people commonly assume it was devised by Arabs, but it was invented by Arya Bhatta, an Indian Hindu, so to be accurate and give proper credit where credit is due, it must be called ‘Indian numerals’ or perhaps ‘Bhatta numbers.’
Number Writing Poem
Down you run
And 1 is done.
Around, and down, and out go you,
That’s the way to make a 2.
Around, and around, just like a bee,
That’s the way to make a 3.
Down, across, and down once more,
That’s the way to make a 4.
Short neck, belly fat,
Number 5 wears a hat.
Down, around, in a circle you go,
That’s a six, just as you know.
Straight across, slide down from Heaven,
That’s the way to make a 7.
First a snake, then come back straight,
That’s the way to make an 8.
First a ball and then a line,
That’s the way to make a 9.
Tall straight, circle then,
That’s the way to make a 10.
by Author Unknown
Zero is the first and only number that contains a letter ‘z.’ Although ‘zillion’ also contains a z, it is not an actual number, but a term for a vague, undefined large quantity.
Randy: Why is 6 afraid of 7?
Randall: Because 7, 8, 9!
If you were to start counting right now nonstop for twenty-four hours every day, you would be more than 31,000 years old by the time you counted up to one trillion. 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . did we mention that you would also be very sleepy, since you would be counting twenty-four hours a day without sleep?
There once was a town in West Virginia, United States of America called ‘6.’
Take a Number
Imagine a world
Without mathematics
No rulers or scales
No inches or feet
No dates or numbers
On house or street
No prices or weights
No determining heights
No hours running through
Days and nights
No zero, no birthdays
No way to subtract
All of the guesswork
Surrounding the fact
No sizes for shoes
Or suit or hat
Wouldn’t it be awful
To live like that?
by Mary O’Neill
Zero: A nice round number.
A simpleton was watching the news with her friend. The newscaster said, “There was a plane crash today. Seven Austrians and two Brazilians are among those missing.” The simpleton turned to her friend and said, “Oh, my, goodness! What a disaster! How many are in a Brazilian?”
What comes after a million, a billion, and a trillion? A quadrillion, a quintillion, a sextillion, a septillion, an octillion, a nonillion, a decillion, and an undecillion.
“There are three types of people: those who know how to count, and those who do not.” -Author Unknown
Why is ‘quite a few’ the same as ‘quite a lot’?
One ‘googol’ is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. A ‘googolplex’ is the number 1 followed by a googol zeros, a number so ridiculously big that it cannot be written, because there is not enough room in the Universe to fit it in. In fact, one googolplex is a number so big that there is not even enough matter in the Universe to form all the zeros in it.
“My wife told me to stop speaking in numbers. But I didn’t 1 2.” -Author Unknown
According to the latest news, we are running out of numbers and soon we will not be able to count things. Trading in the number 14 has been frozen as the number hit dizzying heights in the stock market before yesterday’s closing bell. Shoppers have been reporting that they are finding local retailers are completely sold out of the number 20. Numbers expert Adam Uppe has written two best-selling books on the subject, titled “How to Survive the Coming Number Shortage” and “Living in a World Without Numbers,” both from Zero to Infinity Publishing Company.
Attie: What 5-digit number has 6 left when 2 is taken away from it?
Attila: Sixty, which becomes six when two letters are taken away.
“Number rules the universe.” -Pythagoras (Pythagoras of Samos (570 B.C.E. - 495 B.C.E.)): as quoted in E. Maor: “The Story of a Number” (1905) by E. Maor
“Number rules the Universe.”
Arithmophobia, also known as numerophobia, is a fear of numbers generally, but can also refer to a fear of math, numerals, certain numbers, calculations, or calculus. In schools, it is more commonly known as ‘math anxiety.’ The condition is fortunately not common, but for the few who do suffer from it, it is quite serious. Perhaps singing silly songs containing numbers could help console those frazzled few?
Annie: In what way is the number 9 like a peacock?
Ian: It is nothing without its tail.
Numbers and Counting Facts
- A few is 2 to ‘not many’ of something.
- A couple or a pair is two of something.
- A triple or a triplet is three of something.
- A quadruple or a quadruplet is four of something.
- A dozen is twelve of something.
- A baker’s dozen is 12 + 1, or 13, of something.
- A gross is a dozen dozens, which is 12 x 12 or 144.
- A score is twenty of something.
Astor: How much is it?
Roscoe: It will cost you three dozen dollars.
Triskaidekaphobia is a persistent fear of the number 13. ‘Triskaidekaphobia’ is derived from the Greek words ‘tris’ meaning ‘three,’ ‘kai’ meaning ‘and,’ ‘deka’ meaning ‘ten,’ and ‘phobos’ meaning ‘fear.’ Many buildings have no 13th floor because some people associate the number 13 with bad luck. The buildings have a 12th floor, and right above that is a floor designated as the 14th floor.
Nadine: What did the 0 say to the 8?
Tanya: “Nice belt.”
“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” -Author Unknown
Can you figure out any of the following?
2 + 2 = Fish.
3 + 3 = 8.
7 + 7 = Triangle.
The number 2 is the only number greater than zero that when added to or multiplied by itself gives the same result: 4.
Amanda: What do the numbers 11 and 69 and 88 all have in common?
Amy: They can all be flipped upside down and still be the same.
While visiting Annapolis, a man noticed several students on their hands and knees assessing the courtyard with pencils and clipboards in hand. “What are they doing?” he asked the tour guide. “Each year,” the tour guide replied with a grin, “the upperclassmen ask the freshmen how many bricks it took to finish paving this courtyard.” “So what’s the answer?” my friend asked him when we were out of earshot of the freshmen. The guide replied, “Just one.”
Names for the number ‘0’ include zero, naught, nil, zilch, and zip.
Meredith: Do you know what is special about the number 8,549,176,320?
Merry: It contains the numbers zero through nine in alphabetical order.
Riddle:
My head and tail both equal are.
My middle is slender as a bee.
Whether I stand on head or heel
is quite the same to you or me.
But if my top half should be removed,
the matter’s true though passing strange,
Because then I to nothing would change.
What am I?
Answer:
I am a number 8.
Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced onety-one or eleventeen?
Steve: How do you make the number one disappear?
Yvette: Add a ‘g’ to it and it is ‘gone’!
Numbers and Counting Quiz
- What number comes between 12 and 14?
- What happens when you write a 0 (zero) after any other number?
- Why do we need numbers?
- How many is a few?
- How many is a couple or a pair?
- How many is a triple or triplet?
- How many is a quadruple or quadruplet?
- How many is a dozen?
- How many is a baker’s dozen?
- How many is a gross?
- If a score is twenty, how many is four score and seven?
Bertha: I am number that rhymes with more - what am I?
Brenda: You are four.
Numbers and Counting Quiz Answers
- The number between 12 and 14 is 13.
- Writing ‘0’ or zero after a number increases the value of the number by ten times.
- We need numbers so that we can count things.
- A few is 2 to ‘not many’ of something.
- A couple or a pair is 2 of something.
- A triple or a triplet is 3 of something.
- A quadruple or quadruplet is 4 of something.
- A dozen is 12 of something.
- A baker’s dozen is 12 + 1, or 13.
- A gross is 144, or 12 x 12, of something.
- Four score and seven is (4 x 20) + 7, or 87.
“If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give Fido only two of them.” -Phil Pastoret
“When you have mastered the numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading a book. You will be reading meanings.” -Harold ‘Hal’ Sydney Geneen (1910 - 1997): “Managing” (1985), Chapter Nine: ‘The Numbers,’ page 151
One: Slightly more than none.
We are MFOL! . . . where we make every number count . . . now let’s all go count something . . . after that we can alphabetize something . . . or maybe sort laundry . . .
