Caveat: 4 – – o

DdongMy student asked me, "Do you know what four minus minus zero is?"

Sensing a joke, I said, "No. What?"

"It's poo," she explained.

"OK," I said. "Can you tell me why?" 

The student came to the whiteboard and drew a diagram. I have attempted to reproduce it at right.

Then I laughed, because now the joke made sense.

You see, the final symbol is basically the Korean hangeul syllable glyph 똥 [ttong (or ddong)], which means "poo" or "shit." 

[daily log: walking, 6.5]

 

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