non-6-sided dice > number cubes

[Laurence Horn]

>I learned today from a fellow editor that in some school texbooks,
>dice are called "number cubes" even when they have pips rather than
>digits. Not so surprising, I suppose, given the kind of influences
>school texts tend to suffer under (referring to a "disabled car" can
>be a no-no, as can be talking about tranquillizing a bear -- because
>that refers to drugs). But non-cubic dice are also being called
>"number cubes," even in math textbooks. After one editor mentioned
>she was faced with "four-sided number cube" in a teacher's guide for
>a math course and was not allowed to change it, I found the following
>at http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2004/5/04.05.10.x.html :
>
>"John was tossing a 4-sided number cube numbered 1-4 and a 7-sided
>number cube numbered 1-7."
>
>Note that this is a sample problem for teaching math. The page in
>question begins with the following sentence: "Words and their
>meanings may present the greatest obstacle to mathematical problem
>solving for students." However, the reference to 4-side and 7-sided
>number cubes is not being used as an illustration of problematic word
>usage.
>
Maybe it's not necessarily the apparent endorsement of gambling
that's being avoided but rather the problem of figuring out whether
the singular of "dice" is really "die".  Well, as Caesar used to say,
the number cube is cast.

LH

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