REALLY EASY!

eric1531 · New Member Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 20

How high would u have to count to reach the letter "a"?

ie.one, two, three, etc.

Uplink_Agent · Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 10:39 pm Post subject:

I think it's like one thousand

Vertabladehot2m · Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 180

15 times?

Unclever title · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:21 pm Post subject:

Well, "u" would first have to get past vwxy and z before he could get to numbers so he could get to a. And based on an alphanumeric system using only each symbol once, a person starting on the number 1 would have to count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a; having thus skipped 0 counting a total of 10 symbols.

In reference to my earlier quote from u you would have to go

u, v, w, x, y, z, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, a; having thus counted 17 symbols.

So the answer, depending on your viewpoint the answer is either 10 or 17 times. of course, this is depending on your use of an alphanumeric system.

eric1531 · New Member Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 20

uplink_agent is rite its one thousand

Unclever title · Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:54 am Post subject:

Heh, I get it, but wouldn't it happen before that say around ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, "a" hundred? Although, I'll admit it's probably more common to say one hundred. But the phrase, "If I've told you once I've told you a hundred times!" makes a strong argument.

Uplink_Agent · Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 5:15 am Post subject:

Linguistically speaking "a hundred" is refering to any hundred due to the indefinite article "a" and therefore not really a counting number. "One hundred" on the other hand is a counting number due to the "one" which definite.
I don't know what I just said so don't ask... Very Happy

Unclever title · Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject:

So... right, then in those terms one hundred is a hundred and is also the first one you come across when counting upwards from 1,0,or even -99, unless you were to count 0 as a hundred, but I doubt that you would.

eric1531 · New Member Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 20

uplink_agent is right again "a hundred" is refering to any hundred but your supposed to count so ur really saying "one hundred"

Unclever title · Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 3:17 pm Post subject:

So? Wouldn't you do precisely the same thing when counting to a thousand? For example,

"-nine hundred ninety-eight, nine hundred ninety-nine, one thousand."

the same goes for a million or a billion, and so on. As far as I know, and I know quite a few, no body I know counts up to a number saying "a" so I think the linguistics argument is invalid, because one could just as easily say:

Linguistically speaking "a thousand" is referring to any thousand due to the indefinite article "a" and therefore is not really a counting number. "One thousand" on the other hand is a counting number due to the "one" which makes it definite.

Even though you are actually saying one hundred and one thousand, the fact remains that you have still reached a hundred or a thousand and thus you have counted up to a even though you have never actually said it, because you have reached it nonetheless. By the argument that you never say it, for 100 then you never say it for 1000 and, essentially, you never say it.

I could go on about this, but it would probably get really boring.

eric1531 · New Member Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 20

O MY GOD THE ANSWER'S ONE THOUSAND!!!!!!!

Unclever title · Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject:

Fine I'll stop arguing with you, but I've yet to be proven wrong.

Uplink_Agent · Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 8:15 pm Post subject:

Unclever title · Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:24 pm Post subject:

True, true, the question is, what makes the number one thousand the answer in this case?

Is it that fact that "a thousand" is used more often than "a ten" or "a one?"

Along these lines my argument is that "a hundred" is about as commonly used as "a thousand." My only point is that I don't see why 1000 is a better answer to this riddle than 100. I consider 100 the better answer as "a hundred" is a common enough phrase and when counting one counts to 100 before one reaches 1000.

However It is probably best if we all drop this discussion right now, as it's not going anywhere productive and will probably not lead to any good conclusions.

eric1531 · New Member Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 20

THE ANSWER IS ONE THOUSAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First_Hermit · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:00 pm Post subject:

The answer is one thousand because a thousand is the first word to have an A in it....hundred has no A's, niether does one or ten. That is why the answer is one thousAnd. Idea

Unclever title · Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:41 pm Post subject:

I'll say no more than look at what I've already said, oh and that "a hundred" is commonly used in everyday speech as is "a thousand" beyond that I dont care anymore. So unless something drastically different happens, I won't post in here anymore.

Uplink_Agent · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:43 am Post subject:

Like Hermit said, it is because the word thousand (who cares about the number now) has the letter "a" in it. The others do not. And it was originally not suppose to be about the definite/indefinite article.

Unclever title · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 2:18 pm Post subject:

Oh.... Sorry about that, eesh, I feel like an idiot now, Under these circumstances I willingly concede my point, the answer is one thousand.

RandomAnswers · New Member Joined: 10 Jan 2007 Posts: 2

Sorry to revive a few day old thread, but I just wanted to put forward this point:

When counting, the first time you reach the letter "a" is in fact One Hundred and One, assuming each word is written out as it is counted, which it would be considering you are seeking a specific letter, and cannot find said letter without having the numbers in written format.[/b]

Riddleman · Site Admin Joined: 18 May 2005 Posts: 594

why is the answer 1,000

i know everything · Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:31 am Post subject:

actually, in response to this, one hundred [b]and[/b] one would not work, because and signifies decimals, so the answer IS one thousandjavascript:emoticon('

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Exclamation

Unclever title · Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject:

How does "and" signify decimals?

I would go back to the one thousand answer because "and" isn't a number, it's not even a word to represent a number, but a conjunction. "And", and subsequently the letter "a", is used in counting, but not part of the numbers themselves.

Also, as one could argue that you never have to say, a hundred, or a thousand, and generally don't when counting, you don't have to say "and" as 101 = one hundred and one = one hundred one (a shortcut of speech). However people generally do say "and" for at least the first few times when counting in the hundreds. When saying numbers much higher (likely having not been counted) like 49,567 people generally would say,

"forty-nine thousand five hundred sixty-seven," thus neglecting to say "and" because it's not that important. But I think I've posted too many times in this subject, who knows what will happen if I go to far, I might turn into a werewolf or something...

suzanne16 · New Member Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Posts: 15

you crazy people are oner thinking things the answer is one thousand Evil or Very Mad

i know everything · Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 1:20 am Post subject:

and signifies decimals because of, e.x. one AND one hundreth
or twelve AND six hundred eighty one thousandths. Google it.

deryk · Guy Who Comes A Lot Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 159

why can't you start with .001 1 thousandth. If u count by thousandths you will get to .001 well before 1000

Blaze · Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:27 pm Post subject:

What about -1 , native one

i know everything · Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:39 pm Post subject:

oh yeah, but the the riddle sez, e.x. one two three, no mention of decimals

ghostmafia · New Member Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Florida

You're all wrong. Counting to one hundred or one thousand will get you to the word "a." You can't count to the letter.

i know everything · Posted: Mon May 14, 2007 1:55 am Post subject:

oh lol
that would make sense, i feel really stupid now. . .