Talk:Bean (disambiguation)

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[edit] How Many Beans Make Five?

Would it be appropriate to add "How Many Beans Make Five?" to the disambiguation?

An old English expression, it can either be used as a statement in the form "S/He knows how many beans make five" (which means that the subject knows what s/he's talking about) or as the question, which has various answers, most of which revolve around "one bean, two bean, a bean and a half, and half a bean" (total: 5). There doesn't seem to be a "right" answer that I can discover.

It's claimed to originate with the wooden beads used in an abacus, but I have my doubts about that claim, not least because I'm not aware of any abacus that uses half-beads (which would be necessary, no matter which of the various answers are employed, since all use the term "half a bean").

It parallels (IMHO) Douglas Adams' question about Life, the Universe and Everything, the answer to which is 42 (the number you get when you multiply six by nine, in one version).

I'm no etymologist or I'd be tempted to write an article on the origins of the expression. Maybe someone else feels disposed? AncientBrit (talk) 01:56, 28 February 2008 (UTC)