6 ms·

A simpler problem is months. The English system uses arbitrary names, while Japanese/Chinese/Korean just call them "1-month", "2-month", etc. Even though I gr

by ken 7y ago

A simpler problem is months. The English system uses arbitrary names, while Japanese/Chinese/Korean just call them "1-month", "2-month", etc. Even though I grew up with it, I find the English system impenetrable. Quick, what's 3 months before November? I have to count it out every time. (In mod 12, -3 is the same as +9, so I just count forward 9 months.) The names of the months are a nice nod to our Roman history but they are a pain in the rear to use. It's high time to relegate them to second-class status, like Roman numerals.

pjc50 7y ago
It's worse than that: some of the months are latin-numbered, but due to renumbering the numbers are wrong. September = sept = 7 = month 9 Octobeber = oct (as in octal) = 8 = month 10 November = nov = 9 = month 11 December = dec (as in decimal) = 10 = month 12
- baxtr 7y ago
  Now thank you for that... I wasn’t aware of this, but will probably never forget it again. You ruined these months for me! :-)
- Razengan 7y ago
  So we have the solution! Just put them back in their original order and call every other month N-ember!
- dacohenii 7y ago
  I was about to comment on how this is because July and August were added in honor of Julius and Augustus Caesar, but it turns out they were renamed from Quintilis and Sextilis (which would also be misnumbered). It was really January and February that were added later, causing the off-by-2 error :) Source: https://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/months.html https://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/months.html
omarhaneef 7y ago
I just saw this on social media the other day: Person A: "Isn't it just awful that SEPTember, OCTober, NOVember and DECember aren't the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months?" Person B: "They should stab whomever changed that." (For those who may not know, that is a reference to Julius Caesar who inserted July, and if you didn't know that you may be interested to know that Augustus inserted August. Hence we are off by 2 months.) Edit: Apparently, I -- and the very funny person B -- were misinformed. Jan and Feb were inserted, and different months were renamed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar
- QuercusMax 7y ago
  I'm not sure this is correct; July and August were renamed, yes, but not inserted. They did steal days from February, which was originally the last month of the Roman calendar.
  - omarhaneef 7y ago
    Ah yes, you are correct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar So Jan and Feb were inserted. I have to leave the original up as it is because the joke is too good, but I will leave this note as a correction.
    - QuercusMax 7y ago
      It's not so much "inserted", as they just changed which month they considered the first. The roman first month was March, but it still took place in the spring.
      - TheCoelacanth 7y ago
        They were inserted. Previously the months ran from March to December and the remaining time didn't belong to any month.
- Jtsummers 7y ago
ajuc 7y ago
In Polish months are named after plants that bloom then and weather conditions. Quite poetic to say "I will meet you on the 5th day in the month of linden trees" :) The funny thing is that other Slavic countries use similar names but some are moved 1 month back or forth because flowers bloom earlier/later there :) And days of the week are simply numered starting with sunday = "niedziela" (not working day), "poniedziałek" (after not working day), "wtorek" (secondary day), "środa" (middle day), "czwartek" (fourth day), "piątek" (fifth day) and "sobota" (sabbath). I never remember the names of the roman months and have to count them starting from january.
- Swizec 7y ago
  In Slovenia we used to have the old Slavic names for months, but somewhere around my or my parent’s generation they completely died in favor of roman months. My grandpa is still fluent in them, my parents knew about them and probably knew how to use them once upon a time, I know them as something you see on very old calendars and a curiosity we learned about in kindergarten. All I remember is that my birthday month, October, is called listopad because it’s when leaves fall down
  - ajuc 7y ago
    That's the thing with moving the months back and forth :), in Poland listopad is November, and October is październik (comes from paździerz (chaff?) - the husks of grains separated by threshing it).
    - Swizec 7y ago
      Actually you know what, I messed it up. Listopad is November. October is vinotoč because it's when young wine turns into real wine. Just goes to show how little this stuff is used nowadays :D Although wikipedia[1] says that listopad is an alternative name for October. I am now sufficiently confused. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_months https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_months
- thaumasiotes 7y ago
  Ancient Greek month names usually identify a holiday that happens that month. The question of how different cultures name the months is interesting in its own right.
schwartzworld 7y ago
> Quick, what's 3 months before November Wow. It took me a second, which is weird since I have no trouble seeing 11/5 and 8/5 as November and August Fifth, respectfully.
earenndil 7y ago
Hebrew days are numbered as well (first day, second day, third day), with the exception of saturday. 3 months before november isn't bad, though, at least imo, although I do convert everything to numbers as soon as I can. So november -> 11 -> 8 -> august. But I know what number is associated with every number; don't have to count up.

by ken 7y ago

pjc50 7y ago

It's worse than that: some of the months are latin-numbered, but due to renumbering the numbers are wrong. September = sept = 7 = month 9 Octobeber = oct (as in octal) = 8 = month 10 November = nov = 9 = month 11 December = dec (as in decimal) = 10 = month 12

baxtr 7y ago
Now thank you for that... I wasn’t aware of this, but will probably never forget it again. You ruined these months for me! :-)
Razengan 7y ago
So we have the solution! Just put them back in their original order and call every other month N-ember!
dacohenii 7y ago
I was about to comment on how this is because July and August were added in honor of Julius and Augustus Caesar, but it turns out they were renamed from Quintilis and Sextilis (which would also be misnumbered). It was really January and February that were added later, causing the off-by-2 error :) Source: https://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/months.html https://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/months.html

omarhaneef 7y ago

I just saw this on social media the other day: Person A: "Isn't it just awful that SEPTember, OCTober, NOVember and DECember aren't the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months?" Person B: "They should stab whomever changed that." (For those who may not know, that is a reference to Julius Caesar who inserted July, and if you didn't know that you may be interested to know that Augustus inserted August. Hence we are off by 2 months.) Edit: Apparently, I -- and the very funny person B -- were misinformed. Jan and Feb were inserted, and different months were renamed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar

QuercusMax 7y ago
I'm not sure this is correct; July and August were renamed, yes, but not inserted. They did steal days from February, which was originally the last month of the Roman calendar.
- omarhaneef 7y ago
  Ah yes, you are correct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_calendar So Jan and Feb were inserted. I have to leave the original up as it is because the joke is too good, but I will leave this note as a correction.
  - QuercusMax 7y ago
    It's not so much "inserted", as they just changed which month they considered the first. The roman first month was March, but it still took place in the spring.
    - TheCoelacanth 7y ago
      They were inserted. Previously the months ran from March to December and the remaining time didn't belong to any month.
Jtsummers 7y ago

ajuc 7y ago

In Polish months are named after plants that bloom then and weather conditions. Quite poetic to say "I will meet you on the 5th day in the month of linden trees" :) The funny thing is that other Slavic countries use similar names but some are moved 1 month back or forth because flowers bloom earlier/later there :) And days of the week are simply numered starting with sunday = "niedziela" (not working day), "poniedziałek" (after not working day), "wtorek" (secondary day), "środa" (middle day), "czwartek" (fourth day), "piątek" (fifth day) and "sobota" (sabbath). I never remember the names of the roman months and have to count them starting from january.

Swizec 7y ago
In Slovenia we used to have the old Slavic names for months, but somewhere around my or my parent’s generation they completely died in favor of roman months. My grandpa is still fluent in them, my parents knew about them and probably knew how to use them once upon a time, I know them as something you see on very old calendars and a curiosity we learned about in kindergarten. All I remember is that my birthday month, October, is called listopad because it’s when leaves fall down
- ajuc 7y ago
  That's the thing with moving the months back and forth :), in Poland listopad is November, and October is październik (comes from paździerz (chaff?) - the husks of grains separated by threshing it).
  - Swizec 7y ago
    Actually you know what, I messed it up. Listopad is November. October is vinotoč because it's when young wine turns into real wine. Just goes to show how little this stuff is used nowadays :D Although wikipedia[1] says that listopad is an alternative name for October. I am now sufficiently confused. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_months https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovene_months
thaumasiotes 7y ago
Ancient Greek month names usually identify a holiday that happens that month. The question of how different cultures name the months is interesting in its own right.

schwartzworld 7y ago

> Quick, what's 3 months before November Wow. It took me a second, which is weird since I have no trouble seeing 11/5 and 8/5 as November and August Fifth, respectfully.

earenndil 7y ago

Hebrew days are numbered as well (first day, second day, third day), with the exception of saturday. 3 months before november isn't bad, though, at least imo, although I do convert everything to numbers as soon as I can. So november -> 11 -> 8 -> august. But I know what number is associated with every number; don't have to count up.