Today is Friday the 13th and honestly, I’m not really sure why people think the number 13 is so unlucky.
Number 13 is actually my favourite number because Mats Sundin wore that number when he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. For those who may not know already, I’m a huge hockey fan.
But if you think number 13 is the only superstitious number out there, think again. There are several numbers that make people nervous. Do you know any?
One that I’m really familiar with is number 4. In Chinese culture, the number 4 sounds like the Chinese word for death, so this number is often avoided in house numbers or license plates.
On a similar note, number 9 is bad luck in Japan because it sounds similar to the Japanese word for torture or suffering, meaning that this number is usually avoided as a room number in hospitals.
Some Italians are superstitious of number 17 because if you rearrange the roman numbers of 17 (XVII) you create the world VIXI, translated from Latin to mean “my life is over.”
The last number I heard stories about is 666. There’s actually a term called hexakosioihexekontahexaphibia, which means fear of number 666. I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce this word, but it’s probably the longest word I know. The number 666 is associated with the Beast of Revelation or in other words a sign of the devil.
So maybe number 13 isn’t the only unlucky number. Just like with people, I’m sure every number has their own story.