A Conversation for The Twelve Days of Christmas

... and the total is

Post 1

Jan^

For sad people everywhere, and because I had nothing better to do, the total accumulation of unwanted gifts at the end of the Twelve Days is :
12 partridges
12 pear trees
22 turtle doves
30 French hens
36 calling birds
40 gold rings
42 geese
an unspecified number of goose eggs
42 swans
a lot of water
40 maids (assuming you have kept the Lords away from them, so they are still maiden)
one assumes, 40 associated cows
more gallons of sour milk than it is pleasant to contemplate
36 very tired Ladies
30 even tireder Lords
22 breathless pipers
12 drummers - still drumming - SHUT UP WILL YOU!

A grand total of 416 presents (including the cows, but not the eggs, milk or water).
I bet you were dying to know that....
smiley - fish


... and the total is

Post 2

Lupa Mirabilis, Serious Inquisitor

We had an extra credit problem on a calculus test last year in which we were supposed to compute the total number of gifts over the twelve days, and then the total number after a year of the same procedure; being the nerd that I am (or perhaps it's more a consequence of laziness), I actually wrote a calculator program to compute this figure for any number of days, and I've still got it.


... and the total is

Post 3

Jan^

So what's the answer?


... and the total is

Post 4

Cheerful Dragon

If you just add the basic presents (i.e. a partridge in a pear tree = 1, a maid and her cow = 1) you get 364, one less than the number of days in a non-leap year. I suppose this had some significance in the days when the carol was written. Maybe the missing day was Christmas Day.


... and the total is

Post 5

Lupa Mirabilis, Serious Inquisitor

I think it's probably coincidence.


... and the total is

Post 6

Lupa Mirabilis, Serious Inquisitor

For how many days?


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