# What's the story on numerology? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 11, 2005, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549 "2005-11-11T07:30:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/21 "2005-11-16T00:21:25Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Er, blush, yeah, it’s a Staff Report. The Columns are by Cecil. My goof. You had the right title, it’s just that it’s not a Reopt. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/22 "2005-11-16T01:52:42Z")
Ah. Thanks, we’ll get it fixed. Editor musta been on a drunken binge that day. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/23 "2005-11-16T02:32:42Z")
Man, I hate it when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/24 "2005-11-16T04:39:16Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Ah. Thanks, we’ll get it fixed. Editor musta been on a drunken binge that day. You were probably influenced by the letter writer, who was “was assined a reopt on numerology”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/25 "2005-11-16T04:51:57Z")
In that case, leave it. Either it’s a good joke that I missed, or it’s an accident that looks like a good joke. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/26 "2005-11-16T13:55:20Z")
Yes, I now discover that apparently it was inserted by the **Ed Zotti** , who edits these things. I didn’t catch it. It wasn’t a joke I’da made. Thus, it stays. ---
**Author:** ![IUchem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@IUchem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IUchem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/27 "2005-11-17T02:56:29Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Yes, I now discover that apparently it was inserted by the **Ed Zotti** , who edits these things. I didn’t catch it. It wasn’t a joke I’da made. Thus, it stays. I like the joke; although, I didn’t notice it in the staff reopt \ I raed, and I would not likely have inserted the same joke. That said, I am hoping this is not considered a hijack of the thread, since it is on the same topic of numerology and said staff report. The following is a quote from the report: \<\\> Perhaps I am a slow study, but the Greek alphabet I am familiar with has only 24 letters. I know this all too intimately from being able to recite the entire alphabet with a lit match burning BELOW my fingers as I recited it during my fraternity days over a decade ago. Am I simply not educated \\> in the “ancient Greek alphabet” that had 27 letters? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/28 "2005-11-17T19:49:23Z")
> [@IUchem](#): > > I like the joke; although, I didn’t notice it in the staff reopt \ I raed, and I would not likely have inserted the same joke. > > That said, I am hoping this is not considered a hijack of the thread, since it is on the same topic of numerology and said staff report. > > The following is a quote from the report: > > \<\\> > > Perhaps I am a slow study, but the Greek alphabet I am familiar with has only 24 letters. I know this all too intimately from being able to recite the entire alphabet with a lit match burning BELOW my fingers as I recited it during my fraternity days over a decade ago. Am I simply not educated \\> in the “ancient Greek alphabet” that had 27 letters? Yup. In the earliest form of the alphabet, there were three more letters.[ol] [li][“Wau”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digamma), later known as “digamma”, the descendant of Semitic “waw” and the ancestor of “F”.[/li][li][“Qoppa”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qoppa), the descendant of Semitic “qoph” and the ancestor of “Q”.[/li][li][“San”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_%28letter%29), the descendant of Semitic “Tsade”, which did not descend to Latin.[/li][/ol]“Wau” and “Qoppa” continued in use as the Greek numerals for “6” and “90”. “San” dropped out completely, and a new 27th letter was invented, named [“sampi”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampi) or “sanpi”, also known as “disigma”, as the numeral for “900”. The connection between “san” and “sampi” is uncertain. ---
**Author:** ![IUchem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@IUchem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IUchem)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549/29 "2005-11-17T23:30:33Z")
JWK: Thanks for the information and education! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-story-on-numerology/330549.md?page=1)