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Mona Pereth
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25 Aug 2023, 4:29 pm

When I was growing up, it was commonly said that a lot of people were afraid of the number 13 and believed it to be an unlucky number. No one I knew ever admitted to actually having such a fear, but it was alleged to be commonplace.

Here in NYC, most buildings taller than 12 storeys skip the number 13 in their floor numbering.

In my twenties, I encountered writings by people who seemed to have a reverse superstition about the number 13, e.g. some feminists who seemed to believe that 13 was an unlucky number for the patriarchy, but a lucky number for themselves.

Do you know anyone who is afraid of the number 13? (Or who has a fondness for it on reverse-superstitious grounds?)


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TwilightPrincess
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25 Aug 2023, 4:32 pm

In the religious community I grew up in, superstition was considered “bad,” so I didn’t know anyone who thought that way. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of my acquaintances now have beliefs like that, but they aren’t open about it if they do.


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IsabellaLinton
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25 Aug 2023, 4:38 pm

I noticed that in the video about silly mistakes.

13 is my favourite number, actually. It's not that I'm into goth or anything. I just prefer odd numbers and a lot of good things have happened in my life on the 13th, including my partner's birthday.


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funeralxempire
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25 Aug 2023, 8:17 pm

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It's a green #13, my luck should be rotten. :lol:


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25 Aug 2023, 9:23 pm

Interesting question.

I've come across people who are superstitious about the number seven.

Further, I have heard that it's rude to offer four of something.

I remember the number eight being seen as an evil inescapable loop of misery or a sign of danger, in a couple of cartoons I used to watch. Especially whenever magic was involved.

I have come across people who avoid the number six to the best of their ability. To the point of freaking out and changing things, so that there's five or seven of an object instead.

Yet thirteen? Well, I've heard of Friday the thirteenth and I've heard people jokingly remark that Apollo thirteen tempted fate to its demise.

However, anecdotally speaking, I haven't really come across anyone who freaked out about the number itself.


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Last edited by Lost_dragon on 25 Aug 2023, 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

IsabellaLinton
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25 Aug 2023, 9:27 pm

I've heard that 4 is bad luck in Asian cultures.

36 is satanic because it can be read as being "three sixes" (666), and it's the square of 6.

I have issues with 9s and specifically 19s.

I'm not alone with that.


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TwilightPrincess
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26 Aug 2023, 9:56 am

I wouldn’t be surprised if some modern hotels still don’t include a 13th floor. It could be less about superstition and more about whimsy. I think that sort of thing is kind of cute even though I don’t hold any superstitious beliefs myself. Coincidence and confirmation bias play a strong role in supposed lucky/unlucky numbers.


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Honey69
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26 Aug 2023, 3:54 pm

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cyberdad
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26 Aug 2023, 5:03 pm

Isn't the number 3 satan's pitchfork or something inane to that effect?



Mona Pereth
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26 Aug 2023, 5:10 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:
I've heard that 4 is bad luck in Asian cultures.

Apparently because the word for "4" in Chinese and in some other Asian languages happens to sound a lot like their word for "death."

Anyhow, back to the number 13. I just now ran into this article: Thirteen Percent of Americans Bothered to Stay on Hotels' 13th Floor by Joseph Carroll, March 15, 2007, according to which:

Quote:
The Feb. 9-11, 2007 USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans how much it would bother them to stay in a room on the 13th floor of a hotel.

The results show that an overwhelming 87% say they would not be bothered if they were assigned to the 13th floor of a hotel, while -- interestingly -- exactly 13% of those interviewed say it would bother them.

This was on the website of the Gallup organization.


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ToughDiamond
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26 Aug 2023, 6:57 pm

^
Makes sense. Why should a hotel owner have a 13th floor if it's going to be even slightly less popular than another number?

As a child, I'd been told 13 was unlucky and I had some aversion to the number. Even now I don't feel quite comfortable with it, but knowing that it's nonsense helps. I also had a dislike of odd numbers, though I never thought they had any supernatural powers.



WirSindDasVolk
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26 Aug 2023, 7:18 pm

I don't like the number 13, but that's because I have a strong preference for numbers with small prime factors.

In languages with Chinese-based words like Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Japanese, the characters 死 (death) and 四 (four) have similar pronunciations, so the number four is considered unlucky, but most speakers don't actually take this very seriously.


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