Squawk 4234

 

Squawk 4234

We focus today on our words for numbers.

The computer or phone on which you’re reading this owes its existence to air conditioning. The first huge computers, from which our current devices are descended, were easily the size of your living room. They got so hot that they would have fried if it weren’t for the availability of effective air conditioners.

Imagine if we hadn’t moved beyond those huge machines. Or imagine how our lives would be different if we still used Roman numerals.

Take air traffic control. An air traffic controller could give this instruction to a pilot ready to taxi:

Cherokee 8121K, Greensboro Ground, cleared to Raleigh, maintain VFR at or below 3,000, departure frequency 118.5, squawk* 4234, advise when ready to taxi.

Using Roman numerals, this would read:

Cherokee MMMMMMMMCXXIK, Greensboro Ground, cleared to Raleigh, maintain VFR at or below MMM, departure frequency CXVIII.V, squawk MMMMCCXXXIV, advise when ready to taxi.

We find numbers at every turn, every day in English, like a visit to that convenience store, VII-XI, which boasts that it’s open round the clock, XXIV/VII.

Perhaps you’re blessed with XX/XX vision as you watch one of your top-X movies—not to be confused with X-rated movies.

Some music lyrics would need adjusting, ranging from hymns like “We III Kings” to popular tunes such as “VIII Days a Week” or “When I’m LXIV” by the Beatles.

Back to air traffic control: What to do with this vector for departure: “After takeoff, fly heading 030.” In Roman numerals…

Uh oh: the Romans didn’t have zero. So the air traffic controller may say, “Um, after takeoff, fly heading a bit to the left. Or the right. Whatever.”

I’m sure you can think of other examples. Phone with suggestions, no later than X-XV p.m. My number is DIX-CDLXVI-MMMMMCMXVI.

[CCC words]

*  Google says that “in aviation, ‘squawk’ refers to setting a specific four-digit code on an aircraft’s transponder, which communicates its identity and status to Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar, allowing for tracking and specific alerts like emergencies.”