<![CDATA[I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar":]]>I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar":

two one zaar two
two two zaar four
two three zaar six
two four zaar eight
two five zaar ten
two six zaar twelve
…

We just accepted such a postfix operator as the most natural thing, and freely used it when talking to each other: “what is seven six zaar?” (42)

Some of us were adults before realizing (and some probably never realizing) that these “tables” we all sang as children had probably started as:

two ones are two
two twos are four
…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/4b4571d3-2f10-4882-8fdc-4a939fef756f/i-went-to-school-in-india-and-we-learned-the-multiplication-tables-with-a-chant-that-involved-a-postfix-operator-called-zaarRSS for NodeMon, 24 Aug 2026 14:36:52 GMTSat, 15 Aug 2026 18:09:23 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:41:56 GMT]]>@svat
Calling @gretchenmcc this would make an amazing @lingthusiasm anecdote / bonus ep?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nz/users/Zizabeph/statuses/117109956026412949https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nz/users/Zizabeph/statuses/117109956026412949Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:41:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:36:56 GMT]]>@riggbeck @svat that's schools for you.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/bencurthoys/statuses/117109936381056941https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/bencurthoys/statuses/117109936381056941Mon, 17 Aug 2026 08:36:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:56:23 GMT]]>@iris @timjan @thechris @tessarakt @weekend_editor @svat If I understood the story, then in other words:
The points mentioned would be P, A and B, but due to dialect and the structure of the language someone just listening misses the P, because of the phonetical similarity or homophone nature of how P and B are spoken in that dialect. Does it make sense?
I happen to speak a language that doesn't have native words with "b" and when I say my name, starting with "p", German speaker hear "b".

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodontti.fi/users/paavi/statuses/117109541006476557https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodontti.fi/users/paavi/statuses/117109541006476557Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:56:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:40:57 GMT]]>@bencurthoys @svat

The problem may be with 'made to play'.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/riggbeck/statuses/117109480321954254https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/riggbeck/statuses/117109480321954254Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:40:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:27:12 GMT]]>@svat It's almost Reverse Polish Notation, such as older HP calculators used. For example, 2x6 is keyed as 2 ^enter^ 6 ^enter^ x which gives 12.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/geomannie/statuses/117109426276309746https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.scot/users/geomannie/statuses/117109426276309746Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:27:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:03:10 GMT]]>@zeborah @svat

That seems like a good idea. i would have enjoyed it too.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/riggbeck/statuses/117109331736013126https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/riggbeck/statuses/117109331736013126Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:03:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:00:38 GMT]]>@raganwald @svat

Me too. I saw the pattern, used it and enjoyed it. But a lot of my classmates hated the whole thing and no doubt it turned them off maths for life.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/riggbeck/statuses/117109321810601009https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/riggbeck/statuses/117109321810601009Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:00:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 05:38:32 GMT]]>@svat fantastic thread. Did not know about egg corns. I worked with 2 non-native English speakers from different countries (Germany, Finland) that both thought that the slightly crude and dismissive ‘I can’t be arsed’ was in fact, ‘I can’t be asked’, making it politer, and still functionally equivalent.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.world/users/steffanstringer/statuses/117109234915904309https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.world/users/steffanstringer/statuses/117109234915904309Mon, 17 Aug 2026 05:38:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 04:14:49 GMT]]>@svat come to think of it the 'be' verb is really a postfix 'eval'

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/ap/users/116215415403119151/statuses/117108905686248857https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/ap/users/116215415403119151/statuses/117108905686248857Mon, 17 Aug 2026 04:14:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 02:35:13 GMT]]>@riggbeck I had one teacher who made us race to fill out a grid which had the numbers 1-10 down the side and along the top, and in each cell you had to write what the corresponding pair multiplied to. I think at the start of the year the numbers were all in order, and as we got better at it she jumbled up the numbers.

I was probably the only person in the class who actually really enjoyed it. 😆

@svat

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nz/users/zeborah/statuses/117108514045389995https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.nz/users/zeborah/statuses/117108514045389995Mon, 17 Aug 2026 02:35:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:17:56 GMT]]>@timjan @thechris @tessarakt @weekend_editor @svat caught the hint, still didn't catch the meaning.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://neuromatch.social/users/iris/statuses/117107974264367747https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://neuromatch.social/users/iris/statuses/117107974264367747Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:17:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 23:59:35 GMT]]>@svat I worked in IT with an Indian guy for years who always pronounced the "@" in email ids as "at-a-rate-of" (spoken quickly, jammed together) instead of simply "at". I never mentioned it to him but I assumed it originated from a similar school-days training experience.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.au/users/dshan/statuses/117107902117612475https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.au/users/dshan/statuses/117107902117612475Sun, 16 Aug 2026 23:59:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 23:39:12 GMT]]>@colinstu @svat @vertigo Go Forth and multiply upon the Earth!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.bau-ha.us/users/raganwald/statuses/117107821964133677https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.bau-ha.us/users/raganwald/statuses/117107821964133677Sun, 16 Aug 2026 23:39:12 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 23:38:18 GMT]]>@riggbeck @svat I am not particularly mathematical, but when I learned the “times table” in the 1960s, I recall finding simple patterns that helped me to both recite the table in class and to do arithmetic in my head.

I am not an educator either, but it feels to me like a wasted opportunity if the only thing we use tables for is rote memorization.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.bau-ha.us/users/raganwald/statuses/117107818374444408https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.bau-ha.us/users/raganwald/statuses/117107818374444408Sun, 16 Aug 2026 23:38:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 21:45:01 GMT]]>@riggbeck @svat my children are made to play https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button - quickfire times tables questions - and compete on speed. Less dull than chanting but they still hate it

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/bencurthoys/statuses/117107372934793337https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/bencurthoys/statuses/117107372934793337Sun, 16 Aug 2026 21:45:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 20:44:49 GMT]]>@DarcMoughty @svat this is the way it's done in chinese

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_multiplication_table

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://glauca.space/users/r/statuses/117107136209328580https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://glauca.space/users/r/statuses/117107136209328580Sun, 16 Aug 2026 20:44:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 20:31:52 GMT]]>@svat Fascinating! In my UK primary school, ~1980, we sang/chanted the same but swapping the multiplier and multiplicand:

one two is two
two twos are four
three twos are six
...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/davebiff/statuses/117107085336793726https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/davebiff/statuses/117107085336793726Sun, 16 Aug 2026 20:31:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:22:13 GMT]]>@thechris @tessarakt @weekend_editor @svat My algorithms and data structures professor in Norway was not a native speaker and pronounced "én" (one, stress on the e) and "enn" (the letter N, stress on the n) the same, so you really had to pay attention to the slides when she was teaching big O notation so you didn't get O(1) and O(n) mixed up.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/ilmari/statuses/117106811449226015https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.treehouse.systems/users/ilmari/statuses/117106811449226015Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:22:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:05:27 GMT]]>@svat @tess amazing

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gregpak/statuses/117106745486845650https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/gregpak/statuses/117106745486845650Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:05:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:02:10 GMT]]>@kallekn @thechris @iris @tessarakt @svat

Scientia ipsa potestas est. Gallia lardum est!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/weekend_editor/statuses/117106732626173179https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/weekend_editor/statuses/117106732626173179Sun, 16 Aug 2026 19:02:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:49:18 GMT]]>@svat @vertigo RPN mode / HP calculators must’ve been super popular there.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://birdbutt.com/users/colinstu/statuses/117106682003468771https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://birdbutt.com/users/colinstu/statuses/117106682003468771Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:49:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:44:13 GMT]]>@svat Reminds me of Zardoz.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.art/users/Chloeg/statuses/117106661997006994https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.art/users/Chloeg/statuses/117106661997006994Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:44:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:04:15 GMT]]>@svat language evolves so easily!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sonomu.club/users/c_reider/statuses/117106504862094661https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sonomu.club/users/c_reider/statuses/117106504862094661Sun, 16 Aug 2026 18:04:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I went to school in India, and we learned the multiplication tables with a chant that involved a postfix operator called "zaar": on Sun, 16 Aug 2026 17:39:13 GMT]]>@hurrynot I think dropping the 'r' was considered the more fancy accent 🙂

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/svat/statuses/117106406455468479https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mathstodon.xyz/users/svat/statuses/117106406455468479Sun, 16 Aug 2026 17:39:13 GMT