That depends partly on how 42 it is pronounced. Normally, it is pronounced "yon-juu-ni," which has no relevance to "death." However, it is also possible to pronounce it "shi-ni," which also means "to die." Incidentally, it is the 4 part of 42 that is pronounced "shi," which alternatively means "death," and I have heard that there is also no hotel room in Japan with the number 4. (However, there are hotel rooms here with the number 13.) (Also, items in department stores are never sold (at least to my knowledge) in sets of 4.)
In addition, the age 42 is considered a major climacteric age for men in Japan as well (for those who can read Japanese, see the Japanese Wikipedia entry for "yaku-doshi" (climacteric year)) (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8E%84%E5%B9%B4). (In general, the ages of 25, 42, and 61 are considered climacteric ages for men, and the ages of 19, 33, and 37 are considered climacteric for women, with 33 being the major climacteric age for women. Incidentally, 33 is pronounced "san-zan," which means "disastrous.") Does anybody else know of any culture where the number 42 holds special meaning; if so, what special meaning? Benjamin L. Russell --- Martin Lüthi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [snip] > > In the Japanese culture the number 42 has a very > special meaning. I > realized that while discussing cultural differences > with a Japanese. > Pronouncing 42 sounds like "death" or "to die". No > hotel in Japan has a > room 42. _______________________________________________ Haskell-Cafe mailing list Haskell-Cafe@haskell.org http://www.haskell.org/mailman/listinfo/haskell-cafe
