Re:What's special about this number? (0-9999)
by DanHulton on Tuesday April 20, 2010 @03:25PM
(#1280341)
...why?
Re:What's special about this number? (0-9999)
by aquadoctorbob on Tuesday April 20, 2010 @05:11PM
(#1280603)
Well, in writing -- Internet discourse in particular -- multiple exclamation marks are occasionally (ab)used to indicate absurd levels of emotional intensity on the part of the speaker. The factorial operation is also denoted by an exclamation mark; to someone unfamiliar with that fact, or someone capable of intentionally conflating the two usages, it appears that the statement "9945 = 17!!!!" represents someone excitedly asserting a falsehood (i.e. "9945 = 17") or possibly suggesting that shouting a number somehow increases its value.
Each line on the linked article is a more-or-less stoic mathematical fact, and the humor comes from the subversion of this expectation when the entry for 9945 is misinterpreted as I described.
I can't stop laughing at this one.