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Finger counting gives away your nationality

bbc.com

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Re: Finger counting gives away your nationality

#21

Post by thaumasiotes »

thom wrote: post #20
thaumasiotes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and easily reach 1023 without needing a third hand Given that most people cannot move their ring finger independently of their middle finger, this seems like a stretch.

Try it. It works.

I've tried it. It doesn't work.

Re: Finger counting gives away your nationality

#22

Post by selimthegrim »

gumby wrote: post #11

> In India, for example, they use the lines between the segments of the fingers to count. My mother does this, and additionally used to do arithmetic this way. She never really taught us how to do math this way.

We (Pakistani family) used to do rosary (mala) on our fingers this way

Re: Finger counting gives away your nationality

#23

Post by ARandomerDude »

rcarmo wrote: post #2

This is bunk. I’m Portuguese and I start by joining the thumb with my pinky, brush it through the other fingers, then raise my thumb as “5”. Nobody I know does that, it’s a personal trait.

My grandmother used to say "well, not all dogs have flees..." It was annoying back then too.

Re: Finger counting gives away your nationality

#24

Post by tyingq »

jerf wrote: post #8
tyingq wrote: post #6

Got 3 beers in Germany when I wanted 2 many, many, times before I learned.

You've piqued my curiosity; what did you think meant 2 that they thought meant 3?

I did index+middle for 2. They would do thumb+index for 2, and thumb+index+middle for 3. They didn't do index+middle for anything other than maybe "peace sign". So from a distance, my "2" would look like "3" to them. It was a rural area in Germany, in the late 80's, early 90's.

Re: Finger counting gives away your nationality

#25

Post by professorsnep »

jerf wrote: post #8
tyingq wrote: post #6

Got 3 beers in Germany when I wanted 2 many, many, times before I learned.

You've piqued my curiosity; what did you think meant 2 that they thought meant 3?

I assume holding index and middle fingers up. With the German way of counting, usually the thumb would be up as well, meaning 3, so it's easily mistaken as a 3 despite only having two fingers up.

Re: Finger counting gives away your nationality

#28

Post by Toutouxc »

thom wrote: post #20
thaumasiotes wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and easily reach 1023 without needing a third hand Given that most people cannot move their ring finger independently of their middle finger, this seems like a stretch.

Try it. It works.

Number 14 (pinky touching thumb, others raised) doesn't work for me. It hurts a lot.

Re: Finger counting gives away your nationality

#29

Post by Causality1 »

One thing not mentioned is that finger counting methods vary based on context as well as culture. If I'm counting to myself I start with the thumb. If I'm using finger counting as part of body language like by speaking about three points one by one, I start with the index finger.
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