11 Sep
2007
11 Sep
'07
2:42 p.m.
Hint: never
wonder why there was a Psion 1, 2, 3 and 5 but not a 4?
Because "4" in Mandarin Chinese - a tonal language where a single
syllable has from 5 to 9 totally different meanings depending on the
tone of voice in which you sing it - Chinese is sung, not spoken - the
word for "4" is the same as the word for "death". You can't
indicate
the tone in non-Chinese writing, so when you write 4, you write death.
A machine called the Psion Death would not sell well, for obvious
reasons. So, Psion skipped the entire number. Almost anyone doing
business in China does the same.
This sounds like an urban legend to me. Like the one about the Chevvy (?)
Nova not selling well in Mexico because 'No Va' means 'it doesn't go'
[To go marginally on-topic, I once used that joke when I pulled most of a
DG Nova 1200 out of a skip. SInce there were bits missing, including the
lights-n-switches board, I said 'Nova -- It doesn't go']
Are you seriously telling me that version 4/model 4/etc of any product
never sells in China????