An Address With A Number "4" Is Unlucky In Ontario, Canada

I found this news story rather interesting, suggesting that the number "4" is considered unlucky ... at least in the Richmond Hill section of Ontario ... to the point where the post office is willing to re-address customers street addresses because of it. (Same holds true with the number 13.):

http://www.yorkregion.com/news-stor...id-number-4/

Apparently, the Chinese word for "death" is similar to the number 4, leading to superstitions surrounding that digit (known at tetraphobia).

That's a new one to me wt1

Never would I have thought that the number 4 would have such serious connotations.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Interesting read indeed. 4 is actually my lucky number, and is the first choice in jersey numbers for me when I am playing sports or anything. It was also my father's lucky number, and the number he always wore in the various sporting leagues I remember him playing in when I was a boy. I guess I inherited the lucky number from him. Despite the concerns of the article, it's always been a number that has served my family well.

Same concept is that the number 8 is lucky because it sounds like the word for wealth.

Very serious here in China. At the swimming pool, the lockers are numbered but with no 4's. Like most things though in China, it is the older people that follow this stuff. THe young kids just find it silly.

I don't look closely at the numbers on elevator buttons anymore. But when I was a kid (yes, elevators were invented by then) I remember seeing many buildings that did not have a thirteenth floor. The numbers skipped from 12 to 14. I don't know if this is done anywhere anymore now.


-IBFS

My daughter-in-law, who is Cantonese, confirms that "4" is very unlucky, while "8" is lucky indeed.

"4" is a bad number in Japanese culture as well, enough so that if you put, say, cupcakes, out on a tray, you would put out either 3 or 5, never 4. Similarly, in gift-giving, never give 4 or something -- go +1/-1 instead.

I used to live in the 818 area code, when it covered both the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys in the Los Angeles area. Then it was proposed to be split, with the SFV retaining 818, and the SGV getting the new area code 626. There was a much larger Asian population (particularly Chinese) living the proposed 626 area, and there was much lobbying to retain 818 for SGV, where people cared about it being auspicious (because of the two 8's), and assign 626 to the SFV, where there would be more people indifferent to it. However, the voices in the SFV were very loud about being inconvenienced to have to change their area code, so the change ended up happening to the SGV instead.

Since legacy 818 cellphone numbers weren't forced to change, I knew of several Asian friends who hung on to their 818 numbers as long as they could.

Here's another telephone issue from Canada about it:




Also, I just looked up the fact that in the US the town of Newton Falls, Ohio has the ZIP Code 44444. I wonder how that affects those with tetraphobia?

In fact, in Cantonese numerology, every number has a meaning. '3' is another lucky number, and '1' is interpreted as 'always', so street numbers '13' and '18' are popular with many older Chinese and Japanese, too.

As a translator, I have to be registered with the government authority in order to have my translations accepted by State and Federal government departments. As it happens, my registration number, which appears on the rubber stamp I apply to all the Birth Certificate and Driver's Licence etc translations I do, is '18'. I've never been able to quantify how lucky it's been for me, of course, but I know many of my older clients are delighted to see the lucky number on their documents.

therealwesty, my lucky number is also 4 and always has been. I get a little OCD about it sometimes, too... when I get gas, I try to make the pump stop when the amount ends in a 4, when I set my alarm, I like the minutes to be a multiple of 4. I also consider 13 to be lucky, and I have a fondness for 16 (four 4s!) and 17 (but I suspect that one's just because my favorite baseball player wore #17).

On the other hand, I do not like the number 3 or, especially, the number 9. I actively avoid them.

Elevator in China...




-IBFS

Hmmmmmmmm...maybe that's why I didn't win that many races!! LOL!!