Bad Ruck

Many years ago I was in Seoul, Korea.  I noticed that all the elevators had no fourth floor.  Well, there would be no floor with the number “4” on it, there would be an “F.” So in the elevators the buttons would go 1, 2, 3, F, 5, 6, and so on.  I asked why, and was told that the number 4 is considered unlucky, because the word for “four” sounds very much like the word for “death.”

The Chinese have this same superstition.  There’s no number 4 in any of the buildings.  Unlike the Koreans they just skip the 4—1, 2, 3, 5, and so on.  I also noticed, though, that there are no floors numbered 14.  I asked why and was told that in the word for “fourteen” the word representing the number 1 sounds like the word for “want.” In other words, the number 14 sounds like “want death,” so it’s considered unlucky as well. 

Since there are many westerners who live in my complex, along with many westernized Asians (Japanese and Koreans, mostly), as well as members of China’s increasingly affluent middle class, all these ignorant superstitions are catered to.  Therefore there are no floors numbered 4, 13, 14, or 24.  So even though I live on the 25th floor, it’s actually the 21st.

Hard to believe it’s 2007, isn’t it?  Next week they’ll be installing the alarm system to protect us from goblin attack.

There are still lots of buildings in north america without a 13th floor for the same reason.

Couldn’t get a place on the 8th floor?

My apartment number has an 8 in it.  That probably raised the rent a little.

There are no 13th rows on airplanes, either.

Same thing with Japanese, only they have an alternative word for the number and use it frequently.

There’s a large Chinese population here in Canada (the “Canasians"). As 7 is a lucky number, 7-7-07 was an insane wedding day… booked solid for a few years. I suspect 8-8-08 will be as well.

Of course, for those who believe in an invisible man in the sky who will meet them personally when they die, this is all pagan nonsense.

I live in Hangzhou, and yea, they do this too.
Even crazier:
In Hong Kong, the number 15 is slang for “stupid” (has something to do with the score on a standardized test) so in some buildings I’ve seen where they don’t have a fourth, thirteenth, fourteenth OR fifteenth floor.

This must get really confusing for Suicide tourists to figure out which building is the best to jump off of.