“Catch 22; the $64,000 Question; six of one or half dozen of another; a baker’s dozen; 3:11” are examples of expressions that contain specific number values. These values have either a historical or (pop)cultural significance that should be understood in order to grasp their intended meaning. Because the usage of these expressions is so widespread in English, the number value must be said correctly or the listener will probably misunderstand you. They may think you are joking or even worse, ignorant. Sometimes, we can discern the meaning of these special numbers through deductive reasoning. For example, “six of one or half dozen of another” seems to suggest, on its own, that the speaker believes that 6 of one thing, is the same as, 6 of another. In other words, there is NO difference between the two variables that are being discussed.
Unfortunately, this type of reductive logic cannot be applied to all expressions. Catch 22, could have been Catch XX, or whatever else. The number #22 in this case has no significance, it appears that this number was the 5th choice, seeing that 18, 11, 17 and 14 were all considered before 22 but were all rejected for a variety of reasons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_22
Homework: What do the five number values in the above expressions mean?
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