Start here · Essential guide
Lucky and Unlucky Numbers Around the World
A careful survey of documented number taboos and favourites, from the Chinese eight and the Italian seventeen to Western thirteen, and why they arose.
Customs, Luck and Everyday Belief
Lucky and Unlucky Numbers by Culture
Documented number taboos and favourites in different societies.
Nine as an Auspicious Number in Thailand
Why nine is welcomed in Thai speech and custom: a sound-alike with the word for stepping forward, nine monks at blessings, and the nine-gem tradition.
Numbers in Nursery Rhymes
How counting turns up in English nursery rhymes such as Sing a Song of Sixpence, and why claims of hidden numerical meanings are usually disputed.
Odd Numbers and Luck in Roman Belief
What Virgil meant by the god delighting in odd numbers, how Pythagorean ideas about odd and even shaped it, and what is and is not known about Roman practice.
The Number Forty in Turkish and Middle Eastern Folk Custom
How forty marks the days after a birth or a death in Turkish and wider Middle Eastern custom, and why forty turns up in proverbs and folk tales.
The Origins of Lucky Seven
Where the phrase lucky seven may come from, why seven stood out in religion, the calendar and English idiom, and why its exact origin remains unclear.
The Rule of Three in Folk Tales and Rhetoric
Why stories, jokes and speeches so often arrive in threes, from three wishes and three pigs to veni, vidi, vici, and what folklorists and rhetoricians say.
Triskaidekaphobia and Building Floor Numbering
Where the word triskaidekaphobia comes from, how buildings, hotels and aircraft avoid labelling a thirteenth floor, and how this differs from avoiding four.
Tuesday the 13th in Greek and Spanish Tradition
Why Tuesday the 13th, not Friday, is the ill-omened date in Greece and the Spanish-speaking world, and how it compares with the English Friday version.
Why Seventeen Is Unlucky in Italy
The Roman numeral anagram XVII to VIXI, 'I have lived', and other offered explanations for the Italian unease about seventeen, with an eye on the evidence.
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