# What's the second-last digit of your phone number? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876 "2012-02-24T21:06:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/1 "2012-02-24T21:06:41Z")
I’m just interested to see how this is distributed. One would think it will be a uniform distribution, but it may be that it isn’t and if so then we have something exciting to investigate! (I do have a couple of reasons it may not be, this isn’t a completely pointless post - Benford’s Law is one thing, another thing is companies reserving interesting numbers although maybe the 2nd-last digit isn’t the one to investigate there) ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/2 "2012-02-24T21:07:37Z")
Dumbest pick-up line ever. But, 3. ---
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/3 "2012-02-24T21:13:47Z")
I have created a [similar poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=643176) and would appreciate anyone who votes in this voting there. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/4 "2012-02-24T21:17:47Z")
penultimate ---
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/5 "2012-02-24T21:22:18Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > penultimate I was going to make this on the third-last, but had a last minute change of mind. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/6 "2012-02-24T22:20:11Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > But, 3. Ah. So that’s what it is. I’ve been wondering. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/7 "2012-02-24T22:33:02Z")
> [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > (I do have a couple of reasons it may not be, this isn’t a completely pointless post - Benford’s Law is one thing, another thing is companies reserving interesting numbers although maybe the 2nd-last digit isn’t the one to investigate there) No – obviously they’re going to be the first and fourth numbers after the area code, but even then I don’t know how you would interpret any unequal distribution (except for possibly more 1s and fewer 8s [to make “the,” perhaps]), because you can’t “reserve” a number. In any case the businesses that hold onto certain numbers for mnemonics are going to have pretty close to random words anyway. Even the traditional dial puts more of the less commonly used letters (in English) on the 7 and 9 buttons. It may not be a pointless poll, but if we really want to talk about probability, it seems highly probably that you have a lot of free time on your hands. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/8 "2012-02-24T22:57:46Z")
When I got my phone I wanted a nice “easy to remember” number, like 069-0696969 or something. So I wandered around the shopping center looking for good numbers but they were expensive. A number with triple-5 or triple-9 would have set me back hundreds of dollars. I mentioned this to the young lady selling me the phone; she said she had several personal numbers ( :rolleyes: ) and would sell me one of hers with a quadruple digit (including the penultimater I clicked for the poll) for $15 or so. For several months I got strange calls from men who seemed disconcerted by my male voice. I still get lots of SMS’s advertising things appropriate for teenage girls. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/9 "2012-02-24T23:11:27Z")
> [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > I have created a [similar poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=643176) and would appreciate anyone who votes in this voting there. And 8 polls later you have every Dopers phone number! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/10 "2012-02-24T23:14:44Z")
1. This was easier to answer than [the other poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14808032&postcount=14)… ---
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/11 "2012-02-24T23:29:44Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > No – obviously they’re going to be the first and fourth numbers after the area code, but even then I don’t know how you would interpret any unequal distribution (except for possibly more 1s and fewer 8s [to make “the,” perhaps]), because you can’t “reserve” a number. In any case the businesses that hold onto certain numbers for mnemonics are going to have pretty close to random words anyway. Even the traditional dial puts more of the less commonly used letters (in English) on the 7 and 9 buttons. > > It may not be a pointless poll, but if we really want to talk about probability, it seems highly probably that you have a lot of free time on your hands. You can reserve a number in a lot of countries. Actually, you must be able to reserve numbers given the huge amounts of ones in America like 1-800-SEX-ZFUN (or whatever) where the numbers spell something. And yes, plenty of time. Although - amazed it’s got to half eleven already! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/12 "2012-02-24T23:57:11Z")
Darn. I put the last digit (8). Second to last is 4. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/13 "2012-02-24T23:58:25Z")
> [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > You can reserve a number in a lot of countries. Actually, you must be able to reserve numbers given the huge amounts of ones in America like 1-800-SEX-ZFUN (or whatever) where the numbers spell something. That’s why they extended the toll-free numbering range with 888, 877, 866, and 855. 1-855-GET-LAID… > [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > And yes, plenty of time. Although - amazed it’s got to half eleven already! Um… is that “half past eleven” or “half past ten”? I’ve never figured out that usage–it’s never seen here in my area in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/14 "2012-02-25T00:47:39Z")
I have several numbers. I chose our main home landline: 4. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/15 "2012-02-25T01:44:34Z")
> [@spankthecrumpet](#): > > I was going to make this on the third-last, […] [Antepenultimate](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antepenultimate). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-second-last-digit-of-your-phone-number/613876/16 "2012-02-25T02:14:39Z")
9 (home phone number) So far, 2 is looking a bit left out with only 3 votes, half of the next most common numbers and a fourth of the most common (1), so not a very uniform distribution.