# Why was \_\_\_ afraid of seven? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548 "2010-08-17T18:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/1 "2010-08-17T18:18:18Z")
We’re fighting about this at work. The coworker says that since 7 ate 9, ten is right next door, so he’s spooked. I say that 6 is parked right next to the homicidal number and thus he’s the scared one. Besides, it messes up the flow if you go “10, 7, 8, 9”. It only makes sense as “6, 7, 8, 9”. Obivously, 6 is afraid of 7, right? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/2 "2010-08-17T18:19:08Z")
It’s 6. Your coworker is dumb. ---
**Author:** ![RainGrowsBrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RainGrowsBrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainGrowsBrite)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/3 "2010-08-17T18:21:12Z")
10 lives around the corner. Its ridiculous to think that he even knows what 7 is capable of. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/4 "2010-08-17T18:22:32Z")
I predict this thread will go better than the circle/cycle thread. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/5 "2010-08-17T18:22:50Z")
6 isn’t afraid of seven because they’re adjacent. 6 is afraid of 7 because that’s just the way the riddle goes. It’s the same reason that Little Bo Peep is the one losing her sheep and not Little Miss Muffet; it’s because that’s Just The Way It Is. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/6 "2010-08-17T18:23:37Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > It’s the same reason that Little Bo Peep is the one losing her sheep and not Little Miss Muffet; it’s because that’s Just The Way It Is. Some things will never change. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/7 "2010-08-17T18:24:11Z")
It’s 6. 9 is 6’s mirror-image identical twin, so 6 is afraid 7’s acquired a taste. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/8 "2010-08-17T18:25:41Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > It’s 6. > > 9 is 6’s mirror-image identical twin, so 6 is afraid 7’s acquired a taste. Um, no mirror will turn 6 into 9. Or vice-versa. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/9 "2010-08-17T18:33:01Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > > [@Tengu](#): > > > > It’s 6. > > > > 9 is 6’s mirror-image identical twin, so 6 is afraid 7’s acquired a taste. > > Um, no mirror will turn 6 into 9. Or vice-versa. Not with that attitude it won’t. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/10 "2010-08-17T18:41:32Z")
7 of 9. Resistance is futile. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/11 "2010-08-17T18:42:27Z")
The Barenaked Ladies had a lot of fun with this joke in a recent “children’s album” [7 8 9](http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/7-8-9/id280000385?i=280000437) ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/12 "2010-08-17T18:45:42Z")
Tuba ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/13 "2010-08-17T18:46:54Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Um, no mirror will turn 6 into 9. Or vice-versa. What is the square root of 69? 8 something. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/14 "2010-08-17T20:02:40Z")
That’s like phrasing a question about a race across the English Channel as between one-two-three cat and six-sept-huit cat. Q. Who would win in a race across the English Channel: one-two-three cat or un-deux-trois cat? A. One-two-three cat, because un-deux-trois cat sank. (“Quatre cinq.”) ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/15 "2010-08-17T21:03:37Z")
> [@RainGrowsBrite](#): > > 10 lives around the corner. Its ridiculous to think that he even knows what 7 is capable of. Winner. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/16 "2010-08-17T23:38:58Z")
6 is afraid of 7 because 7 8 9 and 10. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/17 "2010-08-17T23:44:46Z")
I think the question is [Tricky, Tricky](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2ci4WAD2zo). ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/18 "2010-08-17T23:47:50Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > > [@begbert2](#): > > > > It’s the same reason that Little Bo Peep is the one losing her sheep and not Little Miss Muffet; it’s because that’s Just The Way It Is. > > Some things will never change. Riddles… riddles never change. But yeah your coworker is out of his mind. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/19 "2010-08-18T01:53:32Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > The coworker says that since 7 ate 9, ten is right next door, so he’s spooked. Next door AND next to be eaten in sequence. I think that’s a valid interpretation. But that would destroy the flow of the joke. That’s similar to Dickens writing that “dead as a coffin-nail” makes more sense than “dead as a door-nail”. But the alliteration wins. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548/20 "2010-08-18T02:09:06Z")
I could see 10 being afraid of nine, since 9 8 7… Also, I love the cat joke! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-___-afraid-of-seven/550548.md?page=2)