Today’s expression: “Call it a day.”

Meaning: to decide to stop working on something

Example: “I’m exhausted. Let’s call it a day.”

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You’ve heard of Roman numerals, and you may have heard of Arabic numerals, but have you heard of Cistercian numerals?

(Every time I’ve typed “numeral” so far, including this time, I accidentally started with “number” and had to backspace.)

Cistercian numerals are more compact than Arabic or Roman numerals, with a single glyph able to indicate any integer from 1 to 9,999.

Digits are based on a vertical stave, with the position of the digit on the stave indicating its place value. These digits are compounded on a single stave in varying directions and shapes to indicate more complex numbers.

If we took the time to learn how to read and write these numbers, imagine all the time we could save!

The original system was limited to positive integers less than 10,000. Later additions in the 15^th and 16^th centuries expanded this system to reach numbers into the millions. Further additions in the 16^th century allowed users of this system to reach figures in the trillions, but it seems that was where they called it a day.

I’m gonna call it a day as well. Until next time.

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Brain teaser:

Place each letter from the word CULTIVATE onto the blank spaces below to spell a three-letter word, a five-letter word, and a seven-letter word. Each letter can only be used once.

_ C _ 

_ O _ N _ 

_ A _ I _ N _