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LETTERS: John H Glaser, Robert G Newcombe, David Phillips, George Liu, Kennon Kwok, Jason Jarvinen, Wei Zhang, and Ian Abramson Hound of the Baskervilles effect BMJ 2002; 324: 1098 [Full text]

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24 is inauspicious too

Keng Ho Pwee   (4 May 2002)

24 is inauspicious too 4 May 2002
Keng Ho Pwee, Visiting Scholar Canadian Coordinating Office of Health Technology Assessment, Ottawa, ON, Canada, K2C 3V4 Send response to journal: Re: 24 is inauspicious too	In their reply to Glasser [BMJ 2002;324:1098 ( 4 May )], Philips et al contend that '"4" is the only number between 1 and 28 with pronounced, negative connotations in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese.' I would point out that "24" also has pronounced, negative connotations in Mandarin and Cantonese, meaning "easy to die". Confirmation of which numbers are thought to be inauspicious can be done through observing the differences in prices paid for similar houses in a housing development which differ only in house number, where there is a Chinese population. The developers will charge a premium price for house numbers containing an 8; they may be forced to lower the price for a house with an inauspicious number. I note that in the original study, no mortality peak is shown for the 24th.