I have always considered it ambiguous, personally. - Edit 1
Before modification by Joel at 17/12/2011 01:35:49 PM
9. In the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" ("On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me..." ), what total of gifts was given over the whole twelve days: 78, 280, or 364?
Should be about 12^2/2 as it goes, or 144/2, so I'll go with 78
The answer apparently being 364, but
12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords-a-Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids-a-Milking
7 Swans-a-Swimming
6 Geese-a-Laying
5 Gold Rings
4 Colly Birds [sic]
3 French Hens[
![8]](/site_media/images/smilies/crazy.gif)
2 Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
It had honestly never occured to me the person was actually giving them identical gifts the next day, that they had, for instance, received 12 pear trees, 22 Turtle Doves, 30 French Hens, 36 Colly Birds and 40 goddamn golden rings, I always assumed they were just repeating the prior day's list. Interesting how you can hear and sing a song a ba-jillion times without reflecting on it.
I always took it that way as well purely from the standpoint of practicality and good sense ("Oh... 8 MORE Maid-a-Milking... I hope you plan to give me ten Cows-a-Swelling tomorrow...."
) Taken literally, however, the song does say the whole list is given anew each day. For no good reason.I also find it interesting that summing all the ordinals 1-12 then adding THAT to the sum of all ordinals except the largest, recursively, yields the number of days in a 12 month year, minus 1. I am certain there is something mysterious and awe inspiring behind that, probably involving the Golden Mean, the Masons and Simon Magus.
EDIT: Also, you missed a MATH question. *points, laughs*
