Apr 29, 2023
New puzzler time. This one is quick. This was one my brother liked. Not automotive in nature, but very interesting. Here we go.
As many of our listeners and fans know, the Latin words for 7,8,9, and 10 are the route words in the English language for the months of September, October, November, and December.
Septem - September
Octo - October
Novem - November
Decem - December
Now, since these months start with Latin words that literally mean 7, 8, 9, and 10, you would think that these months would be the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th month of the year.
But they are not. They are the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th months.
September - Sept means 7, but this is the 9th month.
October - Octo means 8, but this is the 10th month.
November - Novem means 9, but this is the 11th month.
December - Decem means 10, but this is the 12th month.
So here is the puzzler for today.
Why are these months not the 7, 8, 9, and 10th months in our calendar, since the words they are based on literally mean 7, 8, 9, and 10?
Good luck.
Okay, time for the answer to last week's puzzler. This one was about Latin and the months of our calendar.
To recap.
So, the following months in our calendar year start with Latin words that literally mean 7, 8, 9, and 10, you would think that these months would be the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th month of the year.
September, October, November and December.
Sept, Octo, Novem and Decem mean 7,8,9, and 10 respectively.
But these months are the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th of our calendar year.
The puzzler was, why did this happen?
And the answer is, they used to be placed like this. They used to be the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th months of the year, because there used to be 10 months in the calendar year.
So what happened is there were a couple of Caesars in there that wanted months named after them as well. Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, his nephew and the first Emperor of Rome. These were two very big figures in the Roman Empire. And the months we now have that are named after them are July (Julius) and August (Augustus).
And there you have it.
