[Sca-cooks] 40 Days - was: a Lenten question-

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

The usage of "40" often shows up as a way of saying "lots and lots".  40
days and 40 nights of flood, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves, etc.  I am not
sure of the linguistic tradition this comes from, but I know it is
documented as being a common occurrance, and that it tends to be used to
describe an unknown large number.
Christianna


Forty days and forty nights does show up multiple
times, in the flood, and the after the Exodus when the
hewbrews were wandering around trying to find the
promised land for forty years.  And also Lent.  It is
a little confusing.

Aurelia