| I'll have the Number 55 |
[12/21/09] |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/qGsD/~3/NSgjhuJzuKg/ill-have-number-55.html 
In Chinatown, a series of sculptures marked by number rather than name--and using Arabic numerals. Someone versed in Chinese culture would already know what to call these, but for anyone else, "No. 55" is a lot easier than saying "That green rooster with the white head. No, not the duck--the rooster. Wait, not that rooster, the other rooster. Yes, that one."
The assumption of Arabic numerals for all language speakers and writers is a good example of what happens when you have a common point of reference. These numbers are as helpful for the foreign buyer as they are for the merchant, who might encounter any number of language speakers in eclectic New York. "55" works for anyone, anywhere, as long you're literate.
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