Comments on: Brain Game: Dating with E’s

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:52:22 +0000

Yes you did Tim. The full saying for vowels is “A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.” Generally, Y is a vowel at the end of words. It can also be the only vowel is some words (by, my, fly, and syzygy to name a few.)

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:55:25 +0000

Also…September Seventeenth Seventeen Seventeen (8/17/1717.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:08:38 +0000

Since when is ‘y’ a vowel? Technically speaking!!

You know…a e i o u !!!

Did I miss a grammar lesson?
:)

By: Michigan Mom

Michigan Mom — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:42:49 +0000

Long time reader, first time commenter (I think)…

First I want to say how much I enjoy mental floss. I just have to get my daily fix! It’s a top notch site.

This is probably my favorite Brain Game yet. After I came up with the answer (12/17/1717), I got to thinking about it, and I’d like to be corrected if I’m wrong, but isn’t that not only the most recent date that uses no vowels except E’s, but the LAST one possible?

Every year in the “thousands”, for example 2008 or 999,999 has vowels other than E, obviously. Then you go to the millions, billions, and so on, disregarding, of course, how long the earth will actually last. All the numbers after that (the ones I’ve found, anyway), have vowels other than E, particularly since most end in “illion”. So, unless there’s a huge number out there that I’m unaware of, 12/17/1717 is the last date that holds this really cool distinction.

Is that right or am I missing something?

By: v

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:21:29 +0000

december seventeenth seventeen seventy seven?

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:39:24 +0000

Nice one, Bob!

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:13:25 +0000

Wow, completely misread the question.

By the way, as far as I can tell, August Thirty-First Two-Thousand Six is the most recent date that does not use E’s.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:08:22 +0000

Good thought, thanks. I love these things. Gives me a good pick me up in the morn.

I guess it’s a hazard of my occupation (Finance/Accounting); You need rules for everything. Gray areas get people in trouble.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:04:20 +0000

Brian, that’s why I provided two examples in the writeup… one with a 21st century date and one with a 20th century date. It was intended as a guide to help answer the question.

Besides, it’s just a daily brain game. Something meant to be fun; not taken too seriously.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:01:20 +0000

Uh, you really need to pick a way that you state the date before you can pick the most recent. For example, if you were to say the dates 1975 and 2008, would they be:
• “Nineteen Seventy Five” and “Twenty Oh Eight”
Or
• “One Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy Five” and “Two Thousand Eight”

If you use the former, then your date selection would be correct. However, if you are actually saying the date in a formal manner (the latter), wouldn’t that mean the most recent date would be 12/17/17, or “December Seventeen, Seventeen”?