Hacker News Reader

When people make lists like that, they usually come up with an odd number, like 8, and then think "Hey, if I think of two more I can make a list of 10". That's one of many reasons why such lists usually aren't reading.

With this list, I get the impression that instead she crossed off a few less worthy items to get the round number because it's pretty hard to find any fluff.

View on HN

In which number system is 8 odd?

Probably odd as in weird.

odd as in "not-round". But agreed, poor choice of words. You'll notice later that I used "round" as the inverse. But what word should I have used? "not-round" is awkward.

Use odd and hope you give it enough context for most people to understand. And be glad natural language is infinitely flexible. :)

'Unusual'.

It would be pretty odd in base 7.

There is probably some marketing study that says people are less likely to read "top ten" lists. A non-ten list probably stands out more and suggests, "gee, this writer knows the exact number of items!" :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com