I see a lot of apartment buildings and condos without floor 4, 13, 14 and stuff =/ Those cheaters, making it look like it's 20 floors high when it's only 17 >=(

I'm not sure why, but in Taiwan, saying someone is 201 (er bai yi) is like saying they've got too much time on their hands or something. Then there's 38 (san ba) which is calling someone silly.

@skittles how does 20 become "ai nin"? I thought 20 was just er siu (or yi sap in cantonese)?

LOL I'm not making this up!!!

20 is not twenty. It's two zero. So it's 2 0 or "er nin" (or yee ling in Cantonese). If you pronounce "er nin" really really fast... it becomes "ai nin"... For some reason, it does! I've seen it used on TV LOL. I know it's funny.... but it's right! (blek)

Quote from cheesestix

I see a lot of apartment buildings and condos without floor 4, 13, 14 and stuff =/ Those cheaters, making it look like it's 20 floors high when it's only 17 >=(

🤣 I've never heard that before. I'll file complains!

Quote from skittles

Quote from Scyfon

I heard this from a Chinese kid on tv....

"Your house number is 444? That means....die die die 😮 " 😛

yup! It does

and 14 means "will die" so nobody uses 1 and 4 together... And if you look at Chinese's car license plate, they usually have 8 on them. It means wealthy/rich 😀 I have an 8 on my car!

Yeah, I've heard of that. Some Chinese people in Singapore would actually change their plate just so they can have an 8 or lots of 8s in it. It does in fact symbolize wealth in this instance as in Singapore, to change your plate, they charge you by individual numbers IIRC rather than the $600 for any combination you want (in Australia).

[img]http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa229/azrinirza/makotoshinkai1_zpse3901c5a.gif[/img]
Everyday I'm tumblin'

don't read it as 20, but 2, 0 and you'll get er lin(nin).

201 is not er ba yi, it's er lin yi. Although I don't see how that could be saying they have too much time on their hands, been a while since I talk to people from taiwan though.

13 is generally a weird number all around though, so it's no surprise at that really.

444 is although a somewhat bad number, I see it all the time, 4:44pm is the time I see most often, yet I'm still alive 😛

[img]http://dragcave.net/image/XIBD.gif[/img][img]http://tinyurl.com/8uczzq/.gif[/img]

13 is cute too! It means (in Cantonese) "will have children" so... I guess Chinese couples use it

Quote from Scyfon

Quote from skittles

Quote from Scyfon

I heard this from a Chinese kid on tv....

"Your house number is 444? That means....die die die 😮 " 😛

yup! It does

and 14 means "will die" so nobody uses 1 and 4 together... And if you look at Chinese's car license plate, they usually have 8 on them. It means wealthy/rich 😀 I have an 8 on my car!

Yeah, I've heard of that. Some Chinese people in Singapore would actually change their plate just so they can have an 8 or lots of 8s in it. It does in fact symbolize wealth in this instance as in Singapore, to change your plate, they charge you by individual numbers IIRC rather than the $600 for any combination you want (in Australia).

eek!! Expensive just to have dumb numbers.... but here, we get to choose when we buy a new car..? Like, my parents just chose a not-taken license plate with an 8 in it...

Put it this way for the license plates and buildings. There are tons of superstitions in Chinese culture. The whole concept of Feng Shui is complete superstition and has no proof. Actually, my family has probably disproved it over and over again.

Now, skittles, or whoever started the topic (I forget). Is this a mandarin or cantonese thing? It seems to work better in cantonese, which I don't know.

i only know madarin so iwasnt sure if cantonese worksbut from other ppl it seems to work

n Ithink theres a superstition on which side your head sleeps faceing forgot which side is not allowed north?
theres a some about the reflection of mirror dont take a pic of your reflection?
n beating a person with a broom will rain bad luck upon that person for years
i heard or learned these
sometimes watch chinese dramas in anicient or old times n i also have a grams thats sometimes superstitious
n bout western superstition ive broken so many mirrors ok maybe bout3,steped on cracks,opened umbrellas indoor n stuff idont feel like i have badluck

never fr0wn cause you never know whos in love with your sm 🙂 e
Your mind is like a parachute it works best when its open

Quote from Xeronia

Now, skittles, or whoever started the topic (I forget). Is this a mandarin or cantonese thing? It seems to work better in cantonese, which I don't know.

depends... 1314, I learn, is in Cantonese 一生一世 (see! not death), but in mandarin, it works too..

8 is 發 (like in majong...), so 888 is 發發發 ;D my friend's parents used to have a license with this.. 發 goes with a few words, and they usually mean "to get wealthy", etc... like 發 "choi" (I don't know the word 🤣 .) and 發 "dat"

168 is another car license number... In Cantonese (not sure about mandarin..) it means "keep going" 發, or wealth (prosperity?) that keeps coming. Or "a road of" 發

and I'm really sure it's 520, not 521...

Quote from cheesestix

I see a lot of apartment buildings and condos without floor 4, 13, 14 and stuff =/ Those cheaters, making it look like it's 20 floors high when it's only 17 >=(

4 - sounds like die
14 - 1 is one, thus sounds like 'one die'
13 - is considered an unlucky number

depending on the numbers/ combinations u use, u can form a lot of phrases
eg 1794 - sounds 'yi xu jiu shi' / die once u go

Coffee, Chocolate, Men ... some things are just better rich

whats chinese for l33t?

13 is just a number in China......and 14, when pronounced 14 doesn't mean anything at all......

[color=green]Life, what would it be without so much wrongs and rights?
[/color]

[color=red]Star Trek XI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZiR-NETDr0[/color]

Quote from ares6

13 is just a number in China......and 14, when pronounced 14 doesn't mean anything at all......

some chinese are very superstitious, they discard anything with 4 in it XD

Coffee, Chocolate, Men ... some things are just better rich

yeah.....that's true for 4.....but 13? probably only in U.S. and some European country....then you have to consider what Chinese dialect you are using.

[color=green]Life, what would it be without so much wrongs and rights?
[/color]

[color=red]Star Trek XI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZiR-NETDr0[/color]

8 sounds like prosper so Chinese like to open their businesses on streets numbered 8, 18, 88 etc.

Quote from rabbit6787

Quote from cheesestix

I see a lot of apartment buildings and condos without floor 4, 13, 14 and stuff =/ Those cheaters, making it look like it's 20 floors high when it's only 17 >=(

4 - sounds like die
14 - 1 is one, thus sounds like 'one die'
13 - is considered an unlucky number

depending on the numbers/ combinations u use, u can form a lot of phrases
eg 1794 - sounds 'yi xu jiu shi' / die once u go

4 = die
14 sounds like "must die"
13 sounds like "must live" = 13 is a lucky number.

** [color=green]Mad people either have no sense or too many extra senses... [/color]**
[color=red]On the net, men are men, women are men and children are the FBI. =D[/color]

Quote from Nelo_Neko

13 sounds like "must live" = 13 is a lucky number.

yeah, it's lucky! who told you it's not lucky..

I thought 13 means "must/will have children"... like "san" babies 😛