Once there was a boy who started telling plausible but dull lies. When his mum called him to come out of his room to fetch his supper, instead of grunting rudely, he said:
“The English language contains three kinds of counting number: cardinal – “one two three four five six seven eight nine ten”; ordinal – “first second third fourth fifth six seventh eighth ninth tenth”; and seminal – “once twice thrice quartz quince since sense ox nunce tense”. The use of seminal numbers above ‘thrice’ has much declined in recent decades.”
When she heard this, his mum was very alarmed. She hurried back to the kitchen, where she turned Corrie up another notch. (more…)




