# 'Think of a number' trick
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 17, 2001, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776 "2001-07-17T07:38:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/1 "2001-07-17T07:38:22Z")
I heard this at work and it’s great. USUALLY works.
1. Think of a number from 1-10
2. Multiply it by 9.
3. You now have a two-figure number - add the figures together. If you don’t have a two-figure number, leave it be.
4. Subtract 5.
5. Take the number of letters in the number you’ve got now. So if it’s “seven”, you have five letters, so you get the number five.
6. Using the principal that A=1, B=2, etc, relate the number to a letter of the alphabet.
7. Think of a country starting with that letter.
8. Take the second letter of the country’s name and think of a four-legged animal with that initial.
9. And now…
TAKE THAT ELEPHANT BACK TO DENMARK!
_(IF YOU PICKED “Dominican Republic” INSTEAD OF “Denmark”, YOU CAN JOIN MY MOTHER AND ALL THE OTHER SPOILSPORTS IN FEELING SMUG THAT I NOW LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT)_
Otherwise pretty cool huh?
---
### Author:  [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/2 "2001-07-17T07:48:47Z")
I’ve used the same trick, but not specified ‘four legged animal’ since people usually guess elephant, and also asked for the colour. There’s always a smartarse though.
---
### Author:  [@Pnuk\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pnuk_Guy)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/3 "2001-07-17T09:57:11Z")
and all because the digits of any number multiplied by 9 always add up to 9.
Isn’t Maths a wonderful thing? 😃
---
### Author:  [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/4 "2001-07-17T10:06:55Z")
Um, eagle was the first animal that came to mind.
---
### Author:  [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/5 "2001-07-17T10:15:09Z")
Whups, I missed that 4-legged part. Hell, wings are legs, I’m sticking with it.
---
### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/6 "2001-07-17T10:49:20Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Ross \*
> TAKE THAT ELEPHANT BACK TO DENMARK!
>
> _(IF YOU PICKED “Dominican Republic” INSTEAD OF “Denmark”, YOU CAN JOIN MY MOTHER AND ALL THE OTHER SPOILSPORTS IN FEELING SMUG THAT I NOW LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT)_
>
> Otherwise pretty cool huh? \*\*
I always get a jackal from Djibouti. But then I usually fall into the “smartass” category.
---
### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/7 "2001-07-17T13:33:50Z")
Umm, “Dalmatia” yields an “A” and what do I do with the aardvark?
---
### Author:  [@Sengkelat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sengkelat)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/8 "2001-07-17T17:46:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by jr8 \*
> \*\*I always get a jackal from Djibouti. But then I usually fall into the “smartass” category. \*\*
I got the same answer. Oddly, I came up with Djibouti, and thought “That can’t be the answer they’re looking for…what other country starts with ‘D’?” And I also picked jackal, although jackalope was a close second.
---
### Author:  [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/9 "2001-07-17T19:42:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \*
> \*\*Whups, I missed that 4-legged part. Hell, wings are legs, I’m sticking with it. \*\*
4 wings?
---
### Author:  [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/10 "2001-07-17T20:39:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Sengkelat \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by jr8 \*
> > \*\*I always get a jackal from Djibouti. But then I usually fall into the “smartass” category. \*\*
>
> I got the same answer. Oddly, I came up with Djibouti, and thought “That can’t be the answer they’re looking for…what other country starts with ‘D’?” And I also picked jackal, although jackalope was a close second. \*\*
I thought of Djibouti too, but my animal was a jaguar (my first animal was “giraffe” but then I said, “that doesn’t start with J! silly me.”)
Jump, shake Djibouti
Jump Jump, shake Djibouti
---
### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/11 "2001-07-17T21:05:01Z")
Pick any number. (For simplicity’s sake, make it an integer between one and ten.)
Square the number.
To the result, add three times the number
Divide the result by the number.
Add 39 to the result.
Subtract the original number.
And you have now arrived at: --------\> 42.
Damn, I’m good.
(My dad and I used to play this game in the car when I was a kid.)
---
### Author:  [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/12 "2001-07-17T21:06:56Z")
Yup, I got elephant and Denmark. I’ve never heard of this trick before. It’s pretty neat.
---
### Author:  [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/13 "2001-07-18T00:41:12Z")
I’ve heard that one before, but it was slightly different. Use the same formula as in the OP.
Once you go through all the math and arrive at your final number:
1. Think of a country starting with that letter (A=1, B=2, etc).
2. Now take the last letter of that country’s name and think of an animal that starts with that letter.
3. Last, take the last letter of _that_ word (the animal) and think of a fruit that begins with that letter.
Which gives you…
A kangaroo eating an orange in Denmark. (Or, if you’re one of those smug people, you have a cat eating a tangerine in the Dominican Republic :))
---
### Author:  [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/14 "2001-07-18T00:46:37Z")
OK, take any number between 1 and 10
Multiply it by 2
Add your original number to it.
Subtract twice your number from that.
Multiply that by 5
Square that number
Divide the result by 4
Add 17.6 to it
Take it’s cube root and inverse it.
Move up to the next real number and multiply it by “e”
Divide by “i”
Factor out Zeno’s paradox and graph the all the numbers you’ve gotten on each step based on a 3 dimentional binary graphing system
Connect the dots to form a really cool picture!
---
### Author:  [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/15 "2001-07-18T05:18:28Z")
My friend at work said “ewe”.
Damn creative people!
Eweboss
---
### Author:  [@Ell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ell)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/16 "2001-07-18T05:39:15Z")
I think I did something wrong.
I got an Ant from Canada.
I’ll try again
---
### Author:  [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/17 "2001-07-18T05:48:14Z")
I screwed up too. I got a rabbit from France.
I think I was fuzzy on this step.
> [@](#):
>
> 1. Using the principal that A=1, B=2, etc, relate the number to a letter of the alphabet.
Oh well… I did this once before, and I had an emu from Denmark.
---
### Author:  [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/18 "2001-07-18T06:00:22Z")
I got an Echidna in Denmark.
---
### Author:  [@Mobius74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mobius74)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/19 "2001-07-18T06:06:49Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \*
> \*\*Connect the dots to form a really cool picture! \*\*
Pretty nifty! George Boole and Pythagoras fighting over an abacus! Or did I miscalculate somewhere?
---
### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2001, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776/20 "2001-07-18T08:29:48Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Jeannie \*
> A kangaroo eating an orange in Denmark. (Or, if you’re one of those smug people, you have a cat eating a tangerine in the Dominican Republic :))
Or a koala eating an apple/apricot/avocado. Or an iguana eating same in Djibouti. Or an auk eating kiwi fruit in [Dominica](http://www.dominica.dm/index.htm). Or…
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/think-of-a-number-trick/72776.md?page=2)