八月八日好日子

06- 11-04
八月八日好日子

據 BBC 網頁的報導，由北京舉辦的2008年奧運會將會在8月8日下午8時舉行開幕禮，說是為了取其「發發發發」的諧音云云。

報導的尾段更列舉中國人對數字的忌諱，說中國人是 superstition：

Chinese culture is steeped in superstition, with numbers playing a major role in birthdays, wedding dates and naming.

Six, eight and nine are considered lucky numbers, while four, seven and
even one are considered more unfortunate.

The pronunciation of nine means everlasting, particularly in relationships, while six means things will go smoothly.

Telephone numbers, licence plates and even residential or business addresses which use any of or a combination of those numbers are extremely popular and often cost more.

Conversely, anything involving the numbers four and seven are avoided as much as possible. Four sounds like the Chinese word for death. Seven translates as "gone" which can also mean death, while one can signify loneliness.

你們的 13 與 666 又點計先？

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說起「發發發發」，香港曾經也攪過一次「發發發發」的鬧劇，說是屯門的輕鐵。 屯門的輕鐵在 1988 年的下旬已經完工，曾想過在8月8日通車，08/08/1988，多好意頭。 但在試車的時候卻意外頻頻，常常出軌，有一回更只因為在鐵軌上有一條雪條棍而生意外。 結果通車日期只有不斷延遲，到同年9月25日才能正式通車，錯過了一個百年好日子咯！ 輕鐵通車後年年虧蝕，又和這有沒有關係呢？

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再說「8月8」，除了在廣東話有諧音，在國語中也有。 國語的「八」音像「爸」，台灣就用了「8月8」成為「父親節」，取其「八八節」即「爸爸節」也。 多溫馨。