Unusual methods of counting

This week the Charles Fudgemuffin blog takes a look at various unusual methods of counting from around the world...

1) The remote South American tribes method of counting

Doctor: "Take some tablets some times a day."
Patient: "For how long?"
Doctor: "For some weeks."
Numbers are important when it comes to medicine.

I mention in one of my books that some remote South American tribes only have number words for one and two! If you go any higher than that then you just say 'some'.

So for example, if you had five beans and wanted to count them you would say, "One, two, some, some, some."

The good thing about this very laidback method of counting is that whether you're a billionaire, or you only have five pounds, you both have the same amount of money ... some!

Funny signs

From time to time I feature funny signs on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog, so here's another selection, starting with a sign which carries an important message...

1) "It's never too late to learn to read."

I can't help wondering, who is this sign intended for?

Stupid scientists discover water is wet

Some scientists are brilliant. Some scientists come up with inventions which make our everyday lives happier, healthier and more productive. Some scientists carry out research which leads to the discovery of important and previously unknown facts.

Fans can help you keep cool.

And some scientists are idiots. Some scientists waste time and money researching ridiculously obvious already known facts. Here are a few of those idiots...

1) Fans make you cooler.

According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), electric fans can help you feel cooler.

Wow! Who would have guessed it!? Oh, so that's what I've been doing wrong! Foolishly, in hot weather I've been turning the radiators on to help me cool down, but it turns out that I should have been using fans instead. Oops, silly me! Lucky those scientists at JAMA were able to point out my error for me. In future I'll know to use fans instead of radiators whenever I want to cool down.

Trivial 999 emergency calls (part 3)

An injured banana in need of medical attention.

I've mentioned before on the Charles Fudgemuffin blog that some people seem to treat the 999* emergency telephone number as a 'General Enquiries' helpdesk for the most trivial of issues.  Here are some more ridiculously trivial phone calls which the callers deemed worthy of treating as an 'emergency'.

* Or 911 for the benefit of any US readers.

1) "Is your emergency fire, ambulance, or fruit related?"

One bizarre person from Nottinghamshire rang 999 to report that they had overcooked a banana!