Why Is 6 Afraid of 7?

Say it out loud

Spoken quickly, "seven ate nine" sounds like "seven, eight, nine", the next three numbers after six in counting order. "Ate" and "eight" are homophones: they sound alike and are spelled differently. The answer only lands when it is heard, and it loses most of its force written down, because "ate" and "eight" look nothing alike.

The fear itself is just the setup. In counting, 7 stands right next to 6, so it makes a handy villain for a number.

Number words that sound like other words

Several number words have a twin, which is why number puns come easily.

• one and won
• two, too and to
• four, for and fore
• eight and ate

Any of these can carry a joke of the same kind, and a child who spots one has understood the whole mechanism.

Telling it well

Pause after "because", say "seven ate nine" and wait. Then count slowly, "seven, eight, nine", and the join between the two sounds becomes obvious to everyone at once.

Who gets it first

A listener needs only to count to nine and to know the word "ate". That puts the riddle within reach of early readers and of anyone just learning English, which may be why it travels so easily.