The mention of a certain number may bring to mind a definitive, universal meaning.
Why?
Numbers are just integers. They are used for counting whatever one needs to count. It’s as simple as that. No gray area. Just black and white figures which can be pretty boring when taken at face-value.
However, certain numbers carry a certain meaning. Culture and society throughout history may have attached specific meaning to numbers. Of course, this probably is more applicable to modern-day society.
The following are a few examples of numbers (some even famous and well-known) that make the ole light bulb in one’s head switch on when heard.
007: Bond. James Bond.
1: A winner or a loner. Take your pick.
2: Sorry. You are a runner-up.
5: Gimme a high-five, baby!
7: Good luck! In any way, shape, or form.
8: Whether self-imposed or otherwise, you’ve put yourself in a precarious position. You’re “behind the 8-ball!”
13: Bad luck! Such superstition follows this number that elevators going up above twelve floors do not even have a thirteenth floor button!
16: It can be a “sweet” age for a young lady. It can be the age you finally get that elusive and treasured driver’s license.
21: You’re legal.
46: The number of “high peaks” in The Adirondacks mountain range that are 4000 ft above sea level. If you have scaled all of them, no matter at what age and how long it took, you are a “46er.” Congratulations!
65: Welcome to the Association for the Advancement of Retired People. And oh yeah, you are waaay over the hill.
67: A popular, nonsensical adolescent remark (“6-7!”). Or what others used to assume was the height of Andre The Giant when he was ten years of age.
86: A popular phrase used predominantly in the restaurant industry indicating the unavailability of an item. Example: “86 on the crab cakes!”
100: Excellent!
180: A half turn of 180 degrees. Sometimes in a figurative sense. “He did a real 180 and quit his trouble-making ways!”
360: A full turn of 360 degrees. Sometimes in a figurative sense. “She pulled a 360 and is right back where she started.”
420: As in April 20th. A day commemorating cannabis, and the indulgence of it.
666: Evil.
711: That convenience store in your neighborhood where you can obtain most anything when you really need it.
911: A once-modern fast and beautiful Porsche sports car model. The connotation went downhill from there. Became the three-digit number to call when needing help in an “emergency situation, ” and then later of course, became the number signifying the infamous hijacked jet-airliner terror attacks on The World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon, and downed plane in Pennsylvania on September 11.
914: A boxier version of Porsche sports car.
1231: December 31. New Year’s Eve.
5280: The number signifying Denver, Colorado’s height in feet above sea level.
1,000,000: Whether it is a seven-figure dollar amount in your back account, or what you look like, it’s a grand, grand number!
If you happen to be at a roulette table in a casino, you may even attach meaning to the number on which you place your chip or chips. Or maybe not. It’s one through thirty-six, odd or even, red or black. Cross your fingers, gesture the sign of the cross, and look to the heavens.
Good luck!