Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

City bows to Asian numeric superstition

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 16, 2009 at 8:51 AM

AURORA, Ontario, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A municipality north of Toronto is trying to accommodate Asian residents by letting them remove "unlucky" numbers from their street addresses.

The city council of Aurora, Ontario, voted this week to alter street addresses where possible to appease people from Eastern Asia who dislike the number four, the Toronto Star reported.

Marco Ramunno, the city's director of planning and development services, told the newspaper the number four "has a bad luck connotation for people from East Asia," and it was decided to allow renumbering of streets where there is a wide enough numbering gap.

The Star said in some Asian languages, the number four sounds like the word "death." The number 14 is also considered unlucky by Cantonese-speaking Chinese, the report said.

As for the Western superstition of the number 13 being unlucky, Aurora eliminated it from addresses years ago, Ramunno said.

Ironically, the central telephone number for Aurora's regional government ends with 4444, the Star said.

Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Cheerleaders of 2012 Tibetan pilgrims celebrate New Years Oscar nominations 2012
2011: The year in space The Most Desirable Women of 2012 The best kisses
Additional Odd News Stories
Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
1 of 27
Vanessa Hudgens attends the "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" premiere in Los Angeles
View Caption
fark
Buying generic is now just as expensive as buying name brands
Man died while playing video games at internet cafe, but the blank stare and smell of soiled clothing...
Dejected bank robber wearing shorts on his head, not covering his face, leaves without money when...
Photoshop this hall of hams
1-800-GET-THIN: "They cut her liver three places during the surgery and put her in a wheelchair...
This week's Mugshot Roundup features assaults, DUI's, bench warrants and wait........... they arrested...