Western Numerals Anyone?
February 16th, 2008
Man pays $14 million for a license plate ‘1′ in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Okay, so first of all, some people have too much money and not enough brains. But that’s old news.
More importantly how the hell can a license plate, according to the article, have “only the western numerals” instead what is apparently the norm in UAE, to”carry both Arabic and western numerals and script”? Our modern-day western numeral ARE Arabic numerals.
Anyone? Anyone?
*shakes head*
Entry Filed under: Thoughts on other things...
3 Comments Add your own
1. Hiten | July 2nd, 2008 at 3:26 am
Padraigin, couple things,
1. Granted, it is a ton of money. But this is the Arab way, to combine philanthropy and showboating. Since 100% of the proceeds from these auctions go to charity, then isn’t it great that because of the ’status’ aspect, charities get an extra $14 million? The buyer in question is a noted philanthropist and such high-profile donations pave the way for others to give.
2. You’re right about the norm being both Western & Arabic numerals. However, ‘1′ is a special license plate, typically reserved for the royal family. It’s probably been specially made for the auction itself, so no rules apply.
3. Your blog is magical. I stumbled upon it when googling you so I could harass you for CogSci notes, and was transfixed. I don’t even know you very well, so I hope it’s not too big an intrusion…but you really have ‘it’ when it comes to writing. Thank you.
2. Hiten | July 2nd, 2008 at 3:26 am
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Story?id=4301197&page=1
The full story.
3. padraigin | July 8th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Thanks so much for the full story! Knowing the buyer is a noted philanthropist certainly does change things significantly.
As for enjoying my writing–thanks so much! That’s quite a compliment.
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