Omigod! Only 1,355 days until Super Bowl XLVI! For those a little rusty on the whole Roman numerals thing, the Indianapolis Star provides this helpful advice:
X = 10
L = 50
V = 5
I = 1
Don't add the numbers up; 66 is not the correct answer (by the time that Super Bowl rolls around, we'll be building another new stadium).
There's a trick: If a letter is placed before another letter of greater value, you subtract the lower-value letter.
So it's: L--X+V+I = 46. Or, in English: 50--10+5+1 = 46.
I don't know why the NFL doesn't use plain numbers. It drove me crazy when I was a kid sitting in a theater, trying to figure out what year a movie was made as the Roman-numeraled copyright date came up with the end credits.
Comments
I see a future in LATIN for you Leo....
(my wife does tutoring)
So, you think the ECULEI INDIANAPOLITANI* will be IN #46?
;)
B.G.
*(da colts)
Be glad the gummint doesn't make you file your income taxes in roman notation.
I saw in a trivia contest once where one of the questions was something like "If Caesar were to multiply MCMLVII by MMMDIV, what would the correct answer be (in roman notation)"?
The winner converted it to arabic notation, multiplied, then converted it back. It's even more of a pain, otherwise.
I always had a problem carrying the *V*.
B.G.
(failed 3rd yr. Latin marvelously)