Something Feels a Little Odd Here

We can't count out anything just yet!

Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Pull out your fingers and your toes for this one.

Photo by Crissy Jarvis on Unsplash

In English, every odd number has the letter “e” in it.

If you’ve read Fun Fact Friyay for any amount of time, you’ve likely caught on to my fondness for quirks about the English lanaguage.

Another edition of this newsletter dove into how no numbers in English have an “a” in them until you get to one thousand.

Now, we’re looking at things a bit more oddly. While even numbers beat to their own drum, every single odd number has an “e” in it.

That’s primarily due to most numbers being compound versions of simpler ones. You’ve got your one, three, five, seven, and nine showing up in a handful of scenarios, whether it’s seventy-five, one hundred and nine, or threethirteen.

Much like the “one thousand” fact, things fall apart when we dive into other languages.

German gives us eins and drei, but fünf says “auf wiedersehen” to the letter “e.”

French (“un”) and Spanish (“uno”) immediately dismiss any semblance of an “e” from their early numbers.

Both languages do have the letter in their words for zero, but if you don’t count that, Spanish hits its first “e” with “tres,” while French goes all the way up to seven and nine—you could say they were feeling fine, “sept” they’ve had a-“neuf” of these numbers not having an “e” in them.

(I’ll see myself out.)

Also, some exciting personal news!

As a musician and generally creative enthusiast, I feel conflicted with some of the things people are building with AI. I’d rather we aim to take away the menial tasks of our days, so we can spend more time exercising our minds.

Admittedly, however, it IS kind of fun messing around with song styles I typically wouldn't play, and I love the storytelling element of penning lyrics.

I've turned some of my favorites into an album on music platforms and am donating proceeds to the Austin music nonprofits Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) and Kids in a New Groove, which teaches music and instruments to foster children.

And I am certainly going to continue making music with humans, because nothing beats that kind of collaboration and camaraderie.

Take a listen on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, or your platform of choice and support your local musicians in the process.

I promise you will not find another collection of songs that cover pressing topics like slamming your laptop shut til Monday, getting lost and asking for directions in a small town, or the joys of riding on a train.

And one final shout out to this bird from Port Aransas's Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, who served as the album cover. It patiently posed for several photos before turning, leaving some droppings, and flying off. If only we could all be so carefree.