1The Bob and Rob Show Study GuideLesson 77: Numbersdate: March 17, 2007file name: bobrob 03-17-07

Show notesWe use numbers everyday to predict the weather, to tell the time1: oh what would we do without numbers?

Phrasal Verbs and Idioms"to count off (American English)To say loudly in correct order the numbers people have been given e.g: She made us count off.

to count something outTo count coins one by one e.g: He counted out the exact money and gave it to the cashier.

to count somebody/something out (of something)To not include somebody in something e.g: You can go to that party but you can count me out.

to count on somebody/something doing somethingTo rely on someone to do something/to expect something to happen and act accordingly e.g: the politicianwas counting on his constituents2 to support him.

to count against somebodyTo be a disadvantage to someone e.g: if you are late for the interview, it will definitely count against you.

to count down (to something)To be waiting for an important event e.g: My young son was counting down the days to Christmas.Note: countdown (noun) is used when counting backwards to zero such as when a rocket is launched.

Idioms: 1) to count your blessingsTo be grateful and not take things for granted e.g:

Stop complaining all the time and count your blessings.

Bonus Idiom: to have ones days numberedTo know that something about you e.g your job, life etc will end shortly e.g:

After discovering his brain tumor, the doctor knew his patients days were numbered.

AJESS3Quantifiers: Little and few

We often use these words with nouns, but we can also use them as pronouns e.g:1: a) Do you know anything about grammar? b) a little (I know a little about grammar)

2: the secret is known by only a few (a few people)

See more here: http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramch20.html#8

Both Sides of the Pond(US) twenty-five hundred (2500) (UK) two thousand five hundred (2500)(US) ninety-four hundred (9400) (UK) nine thousand four hundred (9400)(US) a hundred and ten or one ten (110) (UK) a hundred and ten or one-one-oh (110)(US) zip/nada/zero/zilch (UK) nought/zero/zilch

2Song"Lucky Numbers" by Anthony Fiumano. See more at http://www.music.podshow.com

QuotationsNumbers are intellectual witnesses that belong only to mankind Honore de Balzac

The whole is more than the sum of its parts Aristotle

Show transcript

BOBWell, ladies and gentlemen, it's another Bob and Rob Show.

ROBThat's right.

BOBHere we again.

ROBHow are you keeping today, Bob?

BOBI'm keeping fine. I'm keeping fine. Just keeping track4 of the days and counting down; in fact, we're talkingabout numbers today.

ROBOkay, yeah, numbers.

BOBWhat's your lucky number, Rob, got one?

ROBWell, not really, but (7) seven is traditionally quite lucky.

BOBMy lucky number is (6) six, and I have no idea why. What's an unlucky number in our cultures?

ROBWell, (13) thirteen is pretty unlucky.

BOBYeah, that definitely comes to mind. Friday The Thirteenth5 - one of those horror movies with Jason thepsychopath.

ROBWell, Friday the 13th, the superstition Friday the 13th being a bad day, came before the movie.

BOBThat's true, I know that, I know that.

ROBI was just checking, Bob.

BOBWe're on the same page6.

ROBCool.

BOBWhat does that mean, "on the same page"?

3ROBWe're thinking alike.

BOBWe're thinking alike, yes. Thirteen - unlucky number 13.

ROBAnd here in Japan, there are some unlucky numbers, aren't there?

BOBFour (4), Shi7 was eris also what - used in death?

ROBYeah, it means "death" in Japan. Shi which is number 4 in Japan.

BOBAlso, I believe, number 9 - kyu is a bad meaning. But you know what? To all our Japanese listeners, I say,"shi for shiawase .

ROBWhat does that mean?

BOBYou know what that means, it means "happiness."

ROBRight, yes, "shiawase," is "happy" in Japanese.

BOBCan you tell us a little bit about numbers today, because numbers are everywhere.

ROBNumber is an abstract entity8 which represents a measurement, or a form of count. And a symbol for anumber is called a "numeral."

BOBOh, a numerol. Numerol Uno.

ROBNot "numerol," "numeral."

BOBSorry.

ROBThat's okay. Common usage - numerals are often used as labels -

BOBOh, so, when people call you a "zero," they're labeling you?

ROBTheyre labeling me, as nothing.

BOBNo, but seriously, what are some examples?

ROBOn roads, telephones, house numbering, as indicators of order for serial numbers, and codes such as, codesas books, also known as ISBN.9

BOBAnd of course, with numbers, you can play with them. You can play with numbers: you can add them; subtractthem; multiply them; divide them. You've got all kinds of different numbers: you've got irrational numbers - justlike people - negative numbers, which of course are numbers which are less than zero10. And all kinds of

4numbers that I won't mention, because I'd probably put our audience to sleep. Did you like math, or maths?Maths, maths, that's how you say it.

ROBI didn't really like it at school. Yeah, in Britain we say, "maths." But I'm glad I passed it; I worked hard and Ipassed the test.

BOBI passed it, barely.

ROBIt's hard.

BOBIt is, it's abstract.

ROBAnd you know, the level of the Japanese11 over here in Japan is very high.

BOBIn general, yeah.

ROBHigher than in the UK, anyway. And it's speculated that the first known use of numbers dates all the way backto around 30,000 BC.

BOBThat's a long time ago.

ROBThe bones, or some other artifacts, that were discovered with marks cut into them, are often considered astally12 marks. And the use of these tally marks have suggested to be anything from counting either time thathas elapsed; such as, days, or keeping some records of amount of something.

BOBWow. Very interesting. I guess, the earliest know examples are from a cave in southern Africa. Yeah, they'rejust counting. Maybe, they're playing the lottery. One thing we should mention: in English if you write anumber out between twenty-one and ninety-nine; for example, thirty-six, and if the second digit is not a zero,then you should write the number as two words separated by a hyphen. So twenty, would obviously just beone word, twenty, but if it's twenty-one or thirty-six the two words should be separated by a hyphen.

ROBYeah, okay, that's good to know.

BOBShould we do a little counting in English?

ROBYeah, sure.

BOBI guess we started in the tens, so (8) eight ...

ROB(9) nine ...

BOBOkay, maybe we should go a little faster. We're going to count up to a zillion or trillion today, so let's go up tothe hundreds. Somewhere in that range.

ROB(99) Ninety-nine.

BOB

5The hundreds, Rob.

ROBOh, sorry...476.

BOBThank you. Thousands I mean, 9,058 - now you can also say, nine-thousand and fifty-eight, right?

ROBSure. Let's see, up to the hundreds of thousands - we could say 450,000.

BOBOkay, and then it jumps to million. Whenever you have six zeros, you read it as a million, or so - 20,000,000or 20,500,000.

ROBRight. 99,000,999, and after that it becomes ... 999,000,000

BOB999,000,000.

ROBYes. What did I say?

BOBI think you said 99,000,000.

ROBOh, right. Sorry.

BOBYou've got to get your numbers straight. Here on the Bob and Rob Show we're teaching ourselves how tocount.

ROBYes, after it goes up to 99,000,000 then you have 100,000,000.

BOBYeah, 100,000,000, that's right, and then 999,000,000, and then it turns over to a 1,000,000,000. And abillion's what, nine zeros?

ROBThat's right, nine zeros; that's really a big number.

BOBAnd there's what - 7,000,000,000 people in the world?

ROBAround that figure, yeah.

BOBAnd about 1,000,000,000 Bob and Rob Show listeners.

ROBExcellent.

BOBThen after a 1,000,000,000, it goes up to 999,000,000,000. You don't say, 1,000,000,000,000.

ROBThat's right.

BOBYou don't say, 1000,000,000 and then it clicks over to ...

6ROB1,000,000,000,000.

BOB1,000,000,000,000. That's a big number.

ROBAnd then after that, I think, it's a quadrillion.

BOBA quadrillion. And by the way, the US federal deficit, I think, is about $3,000,000,000,000.

ROBWow!

BOBThat's a lot of dosh13. Okay, so you did a 1,000,000,000,000, and then you said, "quadrillion"?

ROBQuadrillion, yeah.

BOBAnd then, after that - we're getting lots of zeros here - you've got a zillion.

ROBIs that technically the next one?

BOBI think, I don't know.

ROBI think, there might be a quintillion, I'm not sure.

BOBQuintillion?

ROBBecause it's Latin based, and it's bi-, tri-, quad.

BOBYou may be right. Maybe a zillion14 just means some huge number. We'll put that in the study guide.

ROBA zillion is big!

BOBA zillion is big, actually, the biggest one of all is a google. A googolplex, right?

ROBYeah.

BOBWe all know, google, as the search engine Google ...

ROBYeah, on the Internet.

BOBBut what does "google" mean?

ROBI'm not sure of the details, but I believe, one of the geniuses from NASA coined the phrase15 because therewere just so many noughts on this particular number ...

7BOBWhat does "nought" mean?

ROB"Nought" means "zero."

BOBWe're going to bring that up in Both Sides of the Pond later. It's just a number so large you can't imagine it,like (10/253) ten to the power of two-hundred fifty-three.

ROBIt's basically (1) one, followed by a million (0) zeros.

BOBOh, my God!

ROBAnd that is a google.

BOBThat's a big number, you can't even imagine it. So that's a google, and that's where, Google, the searchengine company - that's where Google the company, got that term from.

ROBYeah, that's right.

BOBOkay. That's interesting. Just to give people an idea of how much a million or a billion is - you take a marble -a marble is what, about a centimeter in diameter?

ROBAlright, yeah.

BOBA centimeter and a half?

ROBYeah.

BOBA standard marble, and get a car, an average size car, and fill it up with marbles - you get about a million.

ROBWow! A million marbles fills up an average car?

BOBYeah.

ROBWow!

BOBAnd get a house, an average size house - whatever that is - but picture a house, fill it up with marbles, that's abillion. A billion marbles in, maybe, an average size house. Not in Japan! And how big a space to you thinkyou need for a trillion marbles, Rob?

ROBThat's a good question. Perhaps, Madonna's house?

BOBWell, actually, you hit the nail on the head16, you got it exactly right, because where does Madonna spend alot of time - in stadiums like super domes. Yeah, that's about it. You take a huge stadium, like an indoor arena- like the Tokyo dome - fill it up with marbles, and that's about a trillion.

8ROBVery interesting to know that, that's a great numbers analogy.

BOBIt's a very good way to visualize the incomprehensible.

ROBSure.

OTHERWell, now back to more questions. Now that the canning season is here, let's suppose that a housewife wentto the grocer and bought some peaches for $2.50. If the grocer had given her ten peaches more for the samemoney, the peaches would have been ten cents a dozen17 cheaper. Now then, how many peaches did shebuy, and what was the price per dozen? Joel? "Well, letting x equal the amount of peaches she got," Yes."then you'd have the price per dozen would be $250.00 over x over 12, or 3,000 over x, so then you couldhave the equation 3,000 over x equals 3,000 over x plus 10 ( the fraction) plus 10 which would be thedifference in price per dozen." That's what I say. "And multiplying out, you get the 3,000 x's cancel out, so youget 30,000 equals 10x squared plus 100x, or 3,000 equals x squared plus 10x, so x squared plus 10x minus3,000 equals zero, so if the x plus 60 times x minus (50) equals zero, so x equals 50, so she got 50 peachesand so the price per peach would be five cents and the price per dozen would be 60 cents." Attaboy 18Joel,that's fine, oh, that's fine and dandy.

BOBAll right, I believe it's time for phrasal verbs, Rob. What are we talking today?

ROBWe're going to be looking at some phrasal verbs, with the first part being, "count."

BOB"Count."

ROB"Count," plus the preposition.

BOBLike "countdown." Often if you're waiting for an important event or exciting day, you countdown. Probably thebest example I can think of is "counting down" for the rocket launch. NASA counts down for the shuttlelaunch. Countdown for the New Year.

ROBYes, that's another big one. You can also "count against" somebody.

BOBCount against somebody?

ROBYes. If something "counts against" somebody, then it means "it's going to be a disadvantage to that person."

BOBI see, so maybe sometimes being in the working world - for a woman, the fact that she's a woman - ...

ROBYeah, it can count against her, because there is still a very male oriented world, business wise.

BOBSo for example, a woman that wants to be a CEO19 at a company, sometimes her gender can count againsther.

ROBThat's right. Yeah, good example.

BOBAs unfair as that is.

9ROBYeah, very unfair, extremely unfair.

BOBKind of related to what I said before with countdown - you can "count off," "Let's all count off, or sometimes - Idon't know if you say this in the UK but it's quite popular in America when you're making teams, sports teams,you ask people to "count off," which just means "the group, they say loudly the order of numbers they've beengiven." So "everybody count off." And then everyone says, "one," two," "three," "four"... So a lot of time withmy students I have them count off, and then I put them into groups.

ROBYeah, we do that in the UK too. You can also "count something out," which I guess is kind of similar as "countoff," but when you "count something out," it's usually with coins or with money.

BOBCount out money?

ROBYeah, to count out the money, to count out the coins - putting them one-by-one.

BOBI see. Also, if you don't want to be included in a group or activity, you can say, "count out." So, "Rob, you mayenjoy climbing mountains, but as far as this expedition you're going on, you can count me out." In other wordsdon't include me in that activity.

ROBRight. Good one. Okay, and todays idiom is "to count your blessings."

BOBWe should.

ROBAnd this means "to not complain all the time," "you should be grateful for what you've got, so you should countyour blessings."

BOBThat's a good expression. So rather than complain all the time, you should count your blessings. I really thinkthat's true, especially for those of us who live in developed countries20. A lot of times it's easy to complainabout things. If we realized or experienced how hard it is to live in poverty - well, we have poverty indeveloped countries too, but how hard it is to live without clean water, without ...

ROBWithout regular food.

BOBYeah, or sometimes without safety. I think it's important for us to count our blessings.

ROBYes, definitely.

BOBOf course, we can complain sometimes. I complain about Rob all the time. The bonus idiom is "days arenumbered." For example, "His day is numbered." "After the doctor discovered the brain cancer; the doctorknew that his days were numbered." So what does that mean? You'll have to check it out in the study guide.

OTHEROne, two, three, four, five / Once, I caught a fish alive / Six, seven, eight, nine, ten / Then I let it go again.

BOBMoving right along. Ancient Japanese English Study Secret.

ROBAncient Japanese English Study Secret.

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BOBSince we're talking about numbers, I thought we should mention a few quantifiers. "A few," and what else,what are some other quantifiers?

ROB"A little."

BOBThese are often used with nouns. An example, "a few people," "a few chocolates," "a little bit." "I know a littlebit about Korea."

ROBWe can also use them as pronouns.

BOBOh, can we? That's the Ancient Japanese Study Secret today - is the fact that you can use them as pronouns.

ROBRight.

BOBThat's strange, I would never think of "few" and "little" as pronouns, but you're right. Are you sure?

ROBYeah.

BOBGive us an example.

ROBOkay, let's see, "This part of Japan is visited by few."

BOBSo "by few," that's the pronoun. Wow, that's interesting.

ROBLet's see, "Little is known about the tribe in West Africa."

BOBSo "little" is used as a pronoun there.

ROBYeah.

BOBI see, so if you asked me, for example, "Do you know anything about birds?" I could just say, "a little," and thatwould be a pronoun.

ROBYeah. Okay, so for example, "Bob, do you know anything about car engines?"

BOBA little. So in that instance it's used as a pronoun.

ROBThat's correct, yeah.

BOBThat's interesting. So the Ancient Japanese English Study Secret is that "few" and "little" are often used aspronouns. Right?

ROBYeah.

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BOBFor example, "The secret to the success of the Bob and Rob Show is only known by a few."

ROBGood one. Okay, Both Sides of the Pond.

BOBOh, yeah, numbers, a little bit different, the way we say numbers on our side of the pond, Rob. I've got anexample, "3,500," in America we would often say, "Thirty-five hundred."

ROBOh, right. We don't.

BOBYou don't, you don't do that?

ROBNot so much, no, we use the longer expression (3,500) "three-thousand five-hundred."

BOBIt's so much easier to say; for example, (3,500) "thirty-five hundred."

ROBThat's an Americanism, I believe.

BOBOr "9,500" which would mean ...

ROB(9,500) "nine-thousand five-hundred."

BOBThat's interesting. How about numbers like (101) "one-hundred and one," or "one-hundred one," you can sayboth ways. How would you say that in the UK?

ROBSometimes, we can say that as (101) "one-o-one."

BOBOh, 101, I think we would say that too, "one-o-one." Let's go to (110) "one-hundred-ten," how would you saythat?

ROBWe could say that, (110) "one-one-o."

BOBOkay, we would probably just say, (110) "one-ten."

ROB(110) One-ten, right, I don't think we use that, that way. How about (117) "one-hundred-seventeen"?

BOBGenerally, if we wanted to abbreviate it, (117) "one-seventeen." So if you're buying something at a store for$117.00, the clerk might say, "Okay, that will be one-seventeen, please."

ROBWe are more likely to say, (117) "one-one-seven."

BOBReally? Very interesting. Well, let's do a few more here - (120) "one-hundred-twenty."

ROB(120) "one-two-o." How about (152) "one-hundred-fifty-two"?

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BOB(152) "one-fifty-two."

ROBOkay. In the UK it would be (152) "one-five-two."

BOBReally! Would you say that at a store, "Oh, that will be (152) one-five-two"?

ROB(152) "One-five-two," yeah.

BOBOkay, we would say, (152) "one-fifty-two." How about (0) "zero" - before you said "not," how do you spell that?

ROBN-O-U-G-H-T

BOBIs that popular?

ROBYea, it comes from Noughts and Crosses

BOBWhat's that?

ROB"Noughts and Crosses" is - what's it called in American English?

BOBTic-Tac-Toe?

ROBYea, we call that Noughts and Crosses, and "nought21" means (0) "zero." It's a slang term for (0) zero.

BOBWe have slang terms for (0) zero, as well. We can say, "zip,""zilch," or sometimes "nada," which I think mightbe Spanish.

ROBRight, right, interesting. I think, "zilch," has come into the British language now, but we don't say "zip," or"nada," often, no.

BOBReally. "You don't have any money"? "Nope, zip, zilch, none, nada."

ROBGood slang terms for "nothing."

BOBSpeaking of zero and zilch, we have about that much time left, so we'd better move on.

OTHEROne, two, buckle my shoe / Three, four, knock on the door / Five, six, pick up sticks / Seven, eight, close thegate / Nine, ten, a big fat hen.

ROBWe'd like to thank you for your donations and if you enjoy the show and listen regularly, please think aboutmaking a donation.

BOBBecause, we've been using all that charity to continually upgrade our audio equipment. And also, if you have

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any questions or comments, write us a message. We're at www.thebobandrobshow.com, you can send us anemail, or if you are brave, send a voice message.

ROBMaybe we'll play it on the show one day.

BOBYeah, we'll ask you first though.

ROBYeah, sure. And if you're interested in receiving detailed study notes and transcripts, then again, pleaseconsider becoming a Bob and Rob Show member.

BOBTodays quotations are about numbers, mine is, "Numbers are intellectual witnesses that belong only tomankind." And that is - I can't pronounce - can you pronounce that, Rob?

ROBI think that's Honore De Balzac.

BOBThat's by .... that guy.

ROBYeah, that's a good quote. I've got one by Aristotle, "The whole is more than the sum of its parts."

BOBTodays song is called - "Lucky Numbers" It's by, Anthony Fiumano. And we got the song from podshow.com,if you want to learn more about the artist go to www.music.podshow.com. See you all back here next week.

ROBTake care. Bye.

You're on California timeMother Nature's only childAnd after all those highway milesYou took a stand

The curtain fallsYou take a bowThe getaways run smoother nowSummer leaves just burn and brownThey fall so plain

Tell me baby,What have you to gain?This whole thing's drying upYou better pray for rain

Born at the height of youthThe sunshine,It envies youThe sleeping never speak the truthNo false alarm

You're out in the sinking westWake me when the coma endsShake off this brush with deathThe madman's comb

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Somewhere elseFaces turn to stoneWe could save the worldIf not for telephones

I've been staying up at nightI've been taking flightTaking flightTo where the math all works out rightIt's all rightIt's alright

Bets are inThe odds are stackedHeads acheHearts attackHard loveNo coming backNo closing call

EvacuationTouch of goldWith lost hopeThe merry goWhere burried treasure's bought and soldSome place downtown

The sky is fallingListen to the soundAll your lucky numbersThey just let you down

Extension and Review Study*note: we encourage you to respond to the questions and readings by posting on the discussion board (Loginusing your Bob and Rob Show membership username and password)http://englishcaster.com/discussionboard/

1/ Try to use todays idioms in a sentence. Think of situations in your own life where you could you have saidcount your blessings or his/her/my/their days are numbered.

2/ Have you ever counted on somebody to do something for you? What was it? Have you ever countedyourself out of something because it was too dangerous or too boring? What was it?

Glossary 1 Time = this line was taken from the popular FBI drama called numbers. See more athttp://www.cbs.com/primetime/numb3rs/2 Constituents = voters in a particular area of a country (Used in the UK but not the USA).3 AJESS = this stands for Ancient Japanese English Study Secret.4 keeping track = to keep track of something is to make notes of, or keep a record of something.5 Friday The Thirteenth = Now here is a difficult word: Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Find out more here:http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm6 on the same page = covered before but good for review. This phrase means that you understand someoneand that you agree with them too, or are thinking the same thing.7 Shi = number 4 is considered so unlucky in Japan that most hotels and hospitals dont have a number 4room.8 Entity = a clever way to say thing.9 ISBN = This stands for International Standard Book Number and can be found in every book either on theback cover or somewhere on the first pages.

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10 less than zero = an example is the cold temperature in the weather news e.g: it will be minus 5 today. 11 Japanese = Rob wasnt very clear here, but he was referring to the high Math standards of the Japaneseeducation system and the general public.12 Tally = a record of something.13 Dosh = UK slang for money. Rob has been influencing Bob.14 Zillion = this is actually a fictitious number. It can be used humorously or to exaggerate something e.g: Iasked him for the zillionth time.15 coined the phrase = do you remember this expression from the Shakespeare Show?16 hit the nail on the head = get it (the answer) completely right.17 Dozen = this means twelve.18 Attaboy = colloquial for that a boy. Another similar phrase is way to go or Great job.19 CEO = Chief Executive Officer.20 developed countries = the opposite term is under developed countries or 3rd world countries.21 Nought = in football (British football, that is, soccer) the score zero zero (0-0) is termed nil nil. So nil isanother way to say zero, but only in reference to a football score. Moreover, the word love when used intennis (which means zero), comes from the French word leouf which means egg. And as we all know, theoval shape of an egg looks like a zero 0.