Unluky Numbers form Different Cultures Around the World 全球不同文化中心的不詳數(shù)字

張祖平

Youre probably know that 13 is an unlucky number in most Western cultures. But in other countries， different numbers are thought to be just as unlucky. In case 13 makes you nervous， here are some other numbers to avoid.

9—Japan

9 is feared in Japan because it sounds similar to the Japanese word for torture1 or suffering2. So some hospitals and airlines removing the number nine so as to not cause anyone bad luck.

39—Afghanistan

The number 39 gets a bad rap3 in Afghanistan. An NPR report explains： “Many Afghans say that the number 39 literally means‘dead cow. So when Afghans see a car with number 39 on the license plate， they head the other way.”

8&26—India

In India， 8 is the number which is relation breaker， peace breaker.

A connection of numerology4 and tragic events has led to 26 being considered an unlucky number in India.

3—Vietnam&Japan;

Although not that popular， there are a superstition5 that if a photo was taken with 3 people， it is likely that the middle person will die.

17—Italy

17 is considered unlucky in Italy because rearranging6 the letters in the Roman numerals for 17 could spell “VIXI”， which means “I have lived.”， that is， “My life is over.” or “Im dead.”

你或許知道，在大部分西方國家，13是一個不幸的數(shù)字。但是在有的國家，有些數(shù)字同樣被認(rèn)為是不幸的。如果13讓你緊張，這里別的數(shù)字也要避免。

9——日本

在日本，談9色變。因為9在日語中的發(fā)音類似于折磨或苦難。為了不給任何人引來厄運，一些醫(yī)院和航班刪除了9這個數(shù)字。

39——阿富汗

39這個數(shù)字在阿富汗音律不佳。一份美國國家公共電臺（NPR）新聞報道解釋：“很多阿富汗人說39字面上意味著‘死牛，所以當(dāng)阿富汗人看到了牌照上帶有39的汽車時，他們轉(zhuǎn)頭就走。”

8和26——印度

在印度，8是代表關(guān)系破裂、和平破裂的數(shù)字。

數(shù)字命理學(xué)和災(zāi)難事件聯(lián)系在一起，讓26在印度被認(rèn)為是一個不幸數(shù)字。

3——越南和日本

盡管不是那么流行，但是有一種迷信，如果一張照片上拍了三個人，中間那個人可能會死掉。

17——意大利

在意大利，17被認(rèn)為是不幸的，因為用羅馬數(shù)字排列17，可以拼寫成“VIXI”，意為“我曾經(jīng)活過”，也就是說，“我的生命結(jié)束了。”或者“我死了。”

Notes：

1. torture n. 折磨

2. suffering n. 受難；苦楚

3. rap n. 叩擊（聲）；急拍（聲）

4. numerology n. 命理學(xué)；數(shù)字命理學(xué)

5. superstition n. 迷信

6. rearrange vt. 重新排列；重新整理