Re November, December, etc. We don't notice because we don't speak Latin. The Roman year started in March; septem, octem, novem, and decem are 7, 8, 9, and 10 respectively. I remember one of Isaac Asimov's Black Widower stories in which a mathematician states that Halloween, i.e., October 31, is "precisely equal" to Christmas, December 25. The gimmick was that 31 in octal is in fact equal to 25 in decimal.
Thanks. Funny that I realized the translation about November and December but didn't make the connection to October - which in hindsight is obviously about eight (like octopus)
Re November, December, etc. We don't notice because we don't speak Latin. The Roman year started in March; septem, octem, novem, and decem are 7, 8, 9, and 10 respectively. I remember one of Isaac Asimov's Black Widower stories in which a mathematician states that Halloween, i.e., October 31, is "precisely equal" to Christmas, December 25. The gimmick was that 31 in octal is in fact equal to 25 in decimal.
Thanks. Funny that I realized the translation about November and December but didn't make the connection to October - which in hindsight is obviously about eight (like octopus)