# Counting Methods
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 28, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313 "2005-10-28T14:16:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@pletchap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pletchap)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/1 "2005-10-28T14:16:01Z")
Hey, this might be an easy question, but I just asked a guy who works for the IRS and he didn’t know.
Everyone seems to know (and use) a shorthand counting method that involves making four marks and then crossing them out with a fifth. This, naturally, makes it easy to count up by fives at the end and then add any remainder. My questions are as follows:
\*\*What is this shorthand method called? Why does it seem that everyone does it unconsciously (I don’t remember it being taught to ME)? Are there any other common counting shorthands, and what are they called? \*\*
I realize that this is trivia beyond trivia, but that’s why we’re here, right? 🙂
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/2 "2005-10-28T14:18:21Z")
[Tally marks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tally_marks).
The process of counting with tally marks is called tallying.
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### Author:  [@pletchap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pletchap)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/3 "2005-10-28T14:19:44Z")
Yep, that was an easy answer. But it is funny that the IRS guy didn’t know what it was called. I shall return to lurking.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/4 "2005-10-28T14:23:41Z")
Not exactly a shorthand method, but a lot of people tend to count things in pairs for speed.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/5 "2005-10-28T14:25:52Z")
> [@pletchap](#):
>
> . . . it is funny that the IRS guy didn’t know what it was called.
My colleagues who have spent time working with the IRS would not find it the least bit strange.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/6 "2005-10-28T14:26:59Z")
Onetherum, twotherum, cockerum, quitherum, shitherum, shatherum, wineberry, wagtail, taradiddle, den.
Yan, tan, eddero, peddero, jig…
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### Author:  [@pletchap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pletchap)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/7 "2005-10-28T14:54:26Z")
> [@Malacandra](#):
>
> Onetherum, twotherum, cockerum, quitherum, shitherum, shatherum, wineberry, wagtail, taradiddle, den.
>
> Yan, tan, eddero, peddero, jig…
Okay, I’ll bite **Malacandra** … what the 'eck is all 'at above? 😕
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/8 "2005-10-28T15:17:51Z")
Something to do with a traditional way of counting sheep; more details here:
[http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/animal/animals.htm](http://www.mystical-www.co.uk/animal/animals.htm)
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### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/9 "2005-10-28T16:21:56Z")
-
> [@Harry Belefonte](#):
>
> Come
> Missa Tally man
> tally me Banana.
-
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/10 "2005-10-28T16:24:17Z")
> [@pletchap](#):
>
> Why does it seem that everyone does it unconsciously (I don’t remember it being taught to ME)?
It’s shown up in any number of cartoons. We probably all picked it up there.
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### Author:  [@pletchap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pletchap)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/11 "2005-10-28T16:26:11Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> It’s shown up in any number of cartoons. We probably all picked it up there.
Also, I just thought of jail scenes, with the unhappy lifer and all his marks on the wall… that’s probably where we’ve seen it the most.
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### Author:  [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/12 "2005-10-28T20:29:26Z")
Monkey see, monkey do.
In addition to TV, I bet we picked it up from the adults around us – I know I did from my parents.
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### Author:  [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/13 "2005-10-28T21:05:15Z")
Huh. _I_ remember being taught in school. We practiced counting things using the method. It was supposed to be a faster way of counting than writing down all the numbers. I’m 25, so this would have been late 80s probably.
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### Author:  [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/14 "2005-10-28T21:39:46Z")
I also specifically remember being taught this in school. It was in second grade, so that would be 1991 or 1992. We were given a homework assignment that involved going home and counting up various househould items (shoes, belts, etc.) with tally marks.
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### Author:  [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/15 "2005-10-28T22:23:28Z")
I don’t know, I was never taught the I, II, III, IIII, IIII method, so I naturally just did it like this in groups of 5 strikes each grouped in 4 or 5 sets:
IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII
IIIII IIIII IIIII IIIII
Striking out seems unnatural to me.
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### Author:  [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/counting-methods/328313/16 "2005-10-28T22:37:51Z")
I thought they were called hash marks.