this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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Showerthoughts

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We should count in base four (feddit.nu)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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We have basic words for the numbers zero to three, so why not use them to count?

  • None (0)
  • Single (1)
  • pair (2)
  • Multiple (3+ but we'll use it as three)

So with those "digits" we can construct some numbers:

  1. Single
  2. pair
  3. Multiple
  4. Single nothing
  5. Single single
  6. Single pair
  7. Single multiple
  8. Pair of nothing
  9. Pair of singels
  10. Pair of pairs

And of course we can construct bigger numbers like:
42 = 4²×2+4¹×2+4⁰×2 = pair of pairs of pairs
128 = 4³×2 = pair of absolute complete nothinges For this last one I just use some adjectives to repeat the "nothing" as it looks really weird with multiple nothing in a row.

The distance between Stockholm and Gothenburg is a single multiple of none multiple multiples

Could I have a single multiple of bananas please?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (2 children)

If someone asks me for "a few" I'll give them three or four. If someone asks for "multiple" I'll give them a handful and ask if that's enough.

I don't know where in the world this theory is coming from, but here, two would be "a couple" and three+ would be "a few." Not that "a pair" (never just pair) and multiple aren't used in other contexts, but you wouldn't use pair and multiple in the same context. A pair is specific, multiple is an estimate.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Maybe it's just me: had to double back on that literal use of "where in the world".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

It's just me thinking of what I ordered people near me would do. But I'm not a native English speaker so my feel for the language might be wrong; I'm from Sweden (and my mother tongue is Swedish).