pop quiz for the maths whiz

[Mako Mark]

So, in 1994, a man had been sitting at the top of a mountain in Cambodia for 41 years, but he had only been there since 1973.

Huh.

yup he went up the mountain to escape the Khmer Rouge.

the years are the same as ours, exactly 365 days long plus a day in leap years.

and yes the man could count.

hint number two: he counted on one hand (which is what gave me the answer)

Keep trying or PM me for the answer..

 

[jonnythan]

His numbers are in base 5.

groan..

 

[NauticalbutNice]

*tumbleweed*
*airplanes pass over head*
*NBN lives in a perpetual state of stumpedness*

Nauticalbutdim :fruit:

 

[MikeFerrara]

His numbers are in base 5.

groan..

I'd buy that 41 base 5 is 21 base 10 and 342 base 5 is 97 base 10.

Do people over there use base 5?

 

[jonnythan]

I'd buy that 41 base 5 is 21 base 10 and 342 base 5 is 97 base 10.

Do people over there use base 5?

Yeah, all Cambodians use base 5. I should have known better. I spent 5.... sorry, I mean 10, years over there

 

[Mako Mark]

one
two
three
four

bingo.

 

[Firebrand]

Yeah, math wiz needs to have a basic understanding of the Cambodian system - something most of us DON'T have!

 

[baltimoron]

an aside question: How exactly do you pronounce Khmer? Is it like the hebrew or scottish "ch" sound? I heard somewhere that you pronounce it "Kmai", and then "Kmer"? Can you provide some insight?

 

[NauticalbutNice]

I was always lead to believe it is pronouned - ki (As in kick or kitten), mer (like the french for mother/merry without the y).

http://www.answers.com/khmer&r=67 or you can clicky clicky here for a slightly american pronunciation.

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[The Kraken]

Shame on you, Mark, that wasn't a math quiz, that was a social anthropology quiz.