Like when you pay at the bakery and the total is 3.33 €, a German salesperson will inevitably laugh and say “Das ist ne Schnapszahl!”, which means “That’s a ‘booze number’”. That’s our word for it, and I really don’t know, but I’m positive that it comes from a drinking game where you had to order a round of shots when the total for beer was a number of that sort. I know my Germans :D. Never heard of an equivalent in English, but maybe there is, as well as in any of the many different languages our dopers know.
P.S.: it just came to my mind that 666 is a “Schnapszahl”. Good thing that number hasn’t any meaning for Germans who are not either Iron Maiden fans or theology students :).
All I can think of in (American) English is “double nickels on the dime”, which means traveling on the Interstate 10 freeway at 55 miles per hour. A bit outdated now since the national 55mph speed limit was lifted.
My speculation was not far off. From the German wiki for “Schnapszahl”:
[Quote=wikipedia.de]
Die Bezeichnung leitet sich von Spielen mit mehreren Teilnehmern ab, bei denen sich der Verlauf als Ergebnis einer mitprotokollierten Addition manifestiert. Erreicht der Gesamtpunktestand eines der Spieler eine Schnapszahl, sind je nach bestehenden Spielregeln oder mündlichen Vereinbarungen möglicherweise Freigetränke – zum Beispiel ein Schnaps – für die Mitspieler fällig.
Eine andere Deutung bezieht sich auf die Tatsache, dass nach übermäßigem Alkoholkonsum doppeltes Sehen auftreten kann, wodurch aus einer 2 eine 22 oder aus einer 33 eine 333 oder eine 3333 werden kann.
[my translation:]
The name comes from a game with multiple players, during which the sum of a logged addition comes about. If the total sum of one of the players reaches a “Schnapszahl”, depending on the rules or verbal agreements, free drinks, e. g. a Schnaps, for the fellow players are due.
A different reading is the fact that excessive alcohol comsume causes double vision, so that 2 becomes 22 or 33 becomes 333 or 3333.
[/quote]
Well, that’s a very technical description of a perverse drinking game, a variant of which I once played when I was 19. It was called “Bums”, you counted up in a round and whenever the number contained a 7 or was divisible by 7, you had to say “Bums” instead of the number. If you failed: instant shot for you. Oh my god… Kids: Don’t. Ever. Play. Those. Games.
Spanish doesn’t, that I know. People may remark on how there’s “lots of X!” or “it’s all X!”, but no specific term. Palindromic numbers are often considered “cute”; lottery numbers with lots of repeats tend to be among the last ones to sell.
Not quite the same thing because it’s not about the digits, but rolls of the dice have names like Snake-eyes for two ones, and Boxcars for two sixes. There are a number of these names, some of them related to the digits they represent such as ‘Hard Eight’ for a pair of fours.
