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Hi Silky - pleasedta meetja. Hang on, isn't a "silky" a dodgy Irish fairy creature? You out there oftroy? Best make you Muse if so.  a seemingly "nonsensical" song which probably was encrypted to save livesNow, I don't want to dampen any squibs here, but for reasons I couldn't quite put my fin on, I felt uncomfortable with this interpretation. Had I perhaps ended up burning my fins on something similar? Then I found an article that gave some substance to my vague doubts: http://www.snopes2.com/holidays/christmas/12days.aspI have to say that I find the cons compelling, but maybe I'm just a killjoy. heh heh heh, if only they knew...[rubs hands gleefully, despite their lack of physical existence]On a lighter note, I also discovered the undoubtedly genuine [honest & deadpan face] story of someone who actually gave his true love the gifts as "recommended" and of her responses to them: http://www.cvc.org/christmas/12days.htm
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One morning, there was no Fili or Kili...
So Smaug Kili an' 'e Fili 'isself up, eh?
Tasteless Fisk
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old hand
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old hand
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someone who actually gave his true love the gifts as "recommended"I know the humorous story of which you speak. However, I heard an interview on CBC Radio a couple of years ago with a couple who had actually been "victims" of the gifts of the Twelve Days of Christmas for a number of years, one gift each year. The worst of it was that they didn't know who was giving them the gifts. All their family was mystified each year as these elaborate gifts kept arriving. In the last year, it was revealed that it was their brother and sister-in-law. Here, I found a link to the radio interview, you'll find it on this page: http://radio.cbc.ca/programs/basic_black/past_shows/dec_23.html
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Hiya o wise one - oh, and greetings fellow Sussex man (dxb)! One for sorrow, two for joy,
Three to marry, four to die.
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.Back in the 70s ( I hear he hastily adds ) there used to be a children's TV show called Magpie. The theme song was almost exactly like wow's rhyme, and similarly only went up to seven, with the one difference that the second line was: Three for a girl and four for a boy - which at least makes for a rhyme (as did dxb's original, albeit with different words). Oh, and it had a chorus "Ma-ah-ah-ag-pieeee" of course. Dunno which is the original rhyme, though. dxb's feels older. I usually see at least a few magpies as I cycle into work, but I've never seen more than four or so at a single site, even for a dead fox. I suggest a modern-day version of the rhyme should be something like: One for a vole and two for a frog Three for a fox and four for a dog Five for a sheep and six for a goat Seven a dead cow in the middle of the road   Fisk
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So anybody know what is it about the number twelve that makes it so special? At school I was taught multiplication ("times") tables up to 12, and there it ended. Maybe because it is/was a commonly occurring number? [thinks] 12 months in a year, 12 hours on a clock (analogue of course), a dozen eggs ummmm - ah, imperial measurements: 12 inches in a foot, 12 (old) pence in a shilling... Hmm, maybe not that common. So why not stick with decimal systems? After all, most people have ten fingers and toes. I must be missing something blindingly obvious. 
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old hand
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At school I was taught multiplication ("times") tables up to 12, and there it ended. Maybe because it is/was a commonly occurring number?It occurs commonly in the Imperial system, for sure. But I was brought up in the age of metric, and we were only taught the times tables up to 10 in school (but I learned the next few anyway, because I just love the times tables). Coincidence? I think not! So why not stick with decimal systems?Ah, the age-old question we ask ourselves, every time we read a USn first-year physics textbook, which inevitably has a few problems written in Imperial units! Like, who wants to convert miles per hour to metres per second? Honestly! Or square feet to square metres? Yeeeech!
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actually been "victims" of the gifts of the Twelve Days of Christmas for a number of yearsHello old Bean (the "old" of course being nothing to do with age), Yeah, the above episode sounds truly appalling. You can choose your friends, you can't choose your relatives, but what about the in-laws, eh?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I learned the multiplication table to twelve also.
As to metric/imperial system...don't you find that we are still a bit wishy-washy on this in Canada Bean?
While going through school we are inundated with the metric system yet once we get out, unless you are in a technical field, we don't use is entirely.
Nobody I know knows their weight in metric. People still use pounds and ounces. Even the younger folks.
Very few people still talk about miles, only kilimeters YET smaller sizes are measured in feet and inches. I do not even know how tall I am in metric, I am 5 foot 3 inches tall.
Temperature is also a mélange: Outside temperature in metric (yes, it's hot at 30 degrees Celsius) but people invariably get confused if you try to tell them their body temperature in Celsius. Typically you get this reaction...is 38 a fever - what is that in Fahrenheit? Yet you say 102 F and you know it's a fever.
We still buy a pound of butter but we buy gas by the litre.
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