culture

Question

I am a chinese student ,I am sorry to ask you this question-why American hate the number 13?

Lindastar · Accepted Answer

Many occidental dislike this number 13.

This habbit originally comes from the religion, number 13 or 3 or Friday, they are all the symbol of bad luck and disaster

BarbaraPA · Answer

I don't think we hate the number, but it's considered unlucky. It's pretty silly, but a lot of hotels won't have a 13th floor, and very few builders will construct a staircase with 13 steps.  I just did some searching online, and apparently in Norse mythology, there was a banquet for 12 and the 13th person came and killed Odin's son. And of course, at the Last Supper, there were 13th people and the days following THAT didn't go so well either.

Anonymous · Answer

It's said that Lamb of *** died in one of the 13th

Mahra · Answer

It's the first time that I know some people believe that number 13 is unlucky!! Is there a main reason or maybe an event happened which cases this habit among some people?

Mbm2000 · Answer

I didn't know it that Americans hate 13.We Iranians n also Muslims believe that it's evil and wicked.
Some people think it's because No numbers can be divided to it.The 13th a day in the 'Safar' (a month in arabic calendar) is very wicked day among us.Some devotees after this day thank *** if no problems happens to them.

BarbaraPA · Answer

Thanks mbm. I had never heard this before.

Again, we don't think it's wicked, just unlucky.

Alex-93 · Answer

Same goes for germany. Some people believe that friday 13th is a bad day. So they don't go out and stay in their house. I've really heard of people doing this. I suppose they are just superstitious. The fact of people thinking negatively about the number 13 is historically grown, even though I can't instance any examples.

Mohammed.k · Answer

yea mbm2000 mehdi as we believe in (SAFAR), but we have some reasons about that,
but what about number 13 is there any especial story???

Alex-93 · Answer

Mohammed.kBut what about number 13 is there any especial story???

Let's do some research:

The number 13 is associated with bad luck in some countries, and even has a specifically recognized http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia, Triskaidekaphobia, a word which was coined in 1911. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th has been considered an unlucky day since the 1800s, as a combination between an unlucky day, Friday, and the number 13. Another theory as to why the date and number 13 is considered unlucky is that, on the day of Friday the 13^th after the final Crusade the pope had sent out men to capture and burn alive the last 13 Templar knights in order to put an end to the Crusades.

from Wikipedia:

The main article is called: Triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13 ):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskaidekaphobia

Enjoy

Anonymous · Answer

Dear members of this forum,
First of all I think that it is a pity that most of the people in the United States and some other countries think that 13 is an unlucky number.
Well, in my opinion it is a common superstition. I was born in the Netherlands and I lived there for almost my whole life. I have been living in Germany for about 1½ years. Not only most of the American people hate number 13 but many Dutch and German people too. My parents are Sri Lankan Tamils. And I've noticed that many Tamils also think that number 13 is unlucky because of western influences.
Anyway I've never seen number 13 as an unlucky number. Since I've met my husband who was born on 13th of December my lucky number has became number 13.
On the other hand, in China and many western countries number 7 is considered as a lucky number. Please correct me if I am wrong. But I don't like number 7.
Even though I am not fond of number 7, I don't think in advance negatively when the date is the 7th. I think if someone thinks negatively it will turn out negatively. It is always the best when you think positively.
Moreover I think that it's insulting when people say like it is a fact that number 13 or any other number is unlucky. For instance, my husband who was born on the 13th as I've mentioned earlier, is then an unlucky person or is his parents unlucky because their child was born on the 13th?
About the origin of this superstition, I am not sure but it could be something to do with the Christian religion. But I don't know why the combination of Friday and number 13 is considered unlucky.
Hopefully people would get rid of this superstition.
Regards,
Piramila
Ps. if anyone could find any errors in my writing, please don't hesitate to correct me.

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