The Fed says this is a cube of $1M. They're off by half a million

Post by xboxnolifes » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 6:31 AM UTC

dheera wrote: post #429

onionisafruit wrote: post #195

From a 2014 reddit post[0]: > This is actually not a million dollars in singles. It is over $1,000,000. The box was created with the wrong dimensions by the contractor, but they still decided to fill it, display it, and claim it is $1,000,000. > > Source: Tour Guide at the Chicago Fed [0] https://old.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/2f9sp7/one_million_do...

(a) How do we know there isn't some hollow part inside the cube? (b) Whovever hypothetically got that money would have 37% stolen by the government so they'd be left with about a million anyways. It's effectively a million.

Post by 867-5309 » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 6:50 AM UTC

Daneel_ wrote: post #371

_carbyau_ wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitions are surprisingly varied. I see these words as being something to be cautious about. For me: couple(formal) = 2 couple(informal) = 2-3 few = 3-5 half-dozen = 6 [gap] ten-or-so = 9-11 dozen(formal) = 12 dozen-ish(informal) = 11-14 And don't get me started on "this Friday" vs "next Friday"...

don't forget: several = 5-10 handful = 10-20 Personally, after having worked in a hardware store, I always confirm. "grab me a couple of those please" - "is two enough, or do you need a few extra?" I'm one of those people for whom a couple is 3-5, but never 2. I would just say "two".

Post by zippyman55 » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 6:55 AM UTC

Daneel_ wrote: post #373

tobinfekkes wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I just discovered that we have different beliefs about "this Friday" vs. "Next Friday". I never even knew there was another possibility, so it's cool to see this mentioned here so soon after.

"This Friday" is the one during the current week, provided it's currently earlier than Friday. If it's Saturday/Sunday already and I want to talk about the Friday that's only 5 days away I would say "this coming Friday" (or just "Friday"). "Next Friday" is always a week+ away. If it's Tuesday and I say "next Friday", I ALWAYS mean the day 10 days away. If someone says "next Friday" to me and they mean the one in a fe…

Post by retsibsi » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 6:56 AM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #450

retsibsi wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just a spicy way of saying "I am unfamiliar with this idiom". Nobody is saying you should unilaterally start using it in the US, or in any other context where nobody would understand you. They're saying that, for those who do have this idiom, it is unambiguous.

There's a little bit more to it than that. I am unfamiliar with the idiom, and the idiom does not appear to be grammatical English, suggesting that something has gone wrong rather than that the speaker is using a foreign vocabulary item. Most idioms don't look like word salad, but this one does. "Friday week" would ordinarily mean a week characterized in some way by Friday, but of course there can be no such week. Th…

Post by dr_dshiv » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 7:06 AM UTC

_carbyau_ wrote: post #349

achierius wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds more like "a couple". Personally I think "a few" would be anywhere from 3-9, which is more reasonable, if still handily above the median national income (like 250k a year if you save and invest well).

Definitions are surprisingly varied. I see these words as being something to be cautious about. For me: couple(formal) = 2 couple(informal) = 2-3 few = 3-5 half-dozen = 6 [gap] ten-or-so = 9-11 dozen(formal) = 12 dozen-ish(informal) = 11-14 And don't get me started on "this Friday" vs "next Friday"...