Pat's Run 2024

Todays Thought

I hold that gentleman to be the best-dressed whose dress no one observes. 

-Anthony Trollope, novelist (24 Apr 1815-1882)

Todays Thought

This above all: to thine own self be true, / And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

-William Shakespeare, poet and dramatist (23 Apr 1564-1616)

Todays Thought

Reason often makes mistakes, but conscience never does. 

-Josh Billings, columnist and humorist (21 Apr 1818-1885)

Todays Thought

Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later. 

-Fred Brooks, computer scientist (19 Apr 1931-2022)

Todays Thought

Just think of the tragedy of teaching children not to doubt. 

-Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (18 Apr 1857-1938)

Todays Word

 A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

arithmomania

PRONUNCIATION:

(uh-rith-muh-MAY-nee-uh) 

MEANING:

noun: An obsessive preoccupation with numbers, calculations, and counting.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek arithmo- (number) + -mania (excessive enthusiasm or craze). Earliest documented use: 1892.

NOTES:

If you go for a bicycle ride and can’t help but determine the distance, time traveled, average speed, elevation gain, and more, chances are you have arithmomania. If you feel it necessary to count the number of steps in a staircase as you go up or down, chances are you have arithmomania. If you count the number of floors in buildings as you walk through a downtown area, arithmomania.

I only count the number of words in a dictionary.

Count von Count, a vampire Muppet on Sesame Street, has arithmomania. He counts run-of-the-mill things such as those mentioned above, but also bats in his castle. Apparently all vampires have arithmomania. One way to stop them is to spill grain around them. They have no choice but to count the grains, allowing you to escape.