Super Happy Lucky Number! In Quiet Street!
More of an in-joke than a bizarre habit, I guess.

I studied Mandarin Chinese at school. It was great fun, but other than some politely baffled smiles from my local takeaway staff, it has availed me naught.

Fast forward several years to when Hubby and I are looking to buy a house. One of the neighbourhoods we had our eye on, had a high population of Chinese residents. Lovely, they make great neighbours.

The Engrish in some of their 'For Sale' ads in the newspaper was just magic. My favourite was the title of this piece; "Super Happy Lucky Number! In Quiet Street!" After I'd picked myself up off the floor and fetched a mop, I had to explain the joke to Hubby. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then we'll begin.

Numerology is very important to many south east Asian cultures, particularly to the Chinese. 4 is super dooper bad. It is pronounced the same as the word for death. There is no 4th or 14th floor in any Chinese owned building, just as there is no 13th floor in most Western buildings. The number 8, however, is just lovely. It sounds like the word for prosperity. Therefore, to a Chinese person, an auspicious house number is much more important than, say, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

So many years later, at tea with the in-laws, the father-in-law was reading the paper and announced, "Look here, the Beijing Olympics is starting on the 8th of the 8th, 2008."

Hubby and I looked at each other and loudly declared "Super Happy Lucky Number, in Quiet Street!"
(Que?, Mon 5 Jul 2010, 6:10, 2 replies)

Aaaaargh!
It fucks me off no end when Number 13 is skipped, whether in a row of houses, tables in a restaurant, floors in a building, rooms in a hotel etc.

IT'S ONLY A FUCKING NUMBER, YOU MONGS!
(Vice Admiral Sir Charles Cockbrush KCB MBE DSO, who is finding it increasingly difficult to log into b3ta.com wants to duck your aunt and kick your puppy, Mon 5 Jul 2010, 14:10, closed)

well put
I bought a flat that was number 13. I got so fed up with people saying, "ooo unlucky" when I told them my address that I would automatically punch someone in the face immediately after telling them.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Mon 5 Jul 2010, 17:09, closed)