--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: She doesn't understand the concept of…" description: "\"She doesn't understand the concept of Roman numerals. She thought we just fought in world war eleven.\" — Joan Rivers" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/joan-rivers-669_eleven_she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-ro_1119809.png" --- # She doesn't understand the concept of Roman numerals. She… ![“She doesn't understand the concept of Roman numerals. She thought we just fought in world war eleven.” quote by Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/joan-rivers-669_eleven_she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-ro_1119809.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/joan-rivers-669_eleven_she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-ro_1119809.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/joan-rivers-669_eleven_she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-ro_1119809.png) > “She doesn't understand the concept of Roman numerals. She thought we just fought in world war eleven.” [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Misunderstanding of Roman numerals leads to humorous confusion about historical timelines. **In simple terms:** She jokes that Roman numerals are mistaken for war dates. Key Takeaway Clarify historical numbering systems. Themes humor miscommunication history education cultural literacy Mood playful sarcastic light‑hearted Type satirical entertaining When to use this quote - teaching - public speaking - media commentary Key Concepts numerical systems historical knowledge language barriers Questions to Reflect On - Why do we assume everyone knows such basics? - How can we make historical facts more accessible? A Different Perspective Even comedic exaggeration can reveal gaps in basic education. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Numerals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numerals/) [Roman numerals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roman-numerals/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war/) ## Related quotes > [Object-oriented design is the roman numerals of computing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-pike/object-oriented-design-is-the-roman-numerals-of-computing/) [Rob Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-pike/) > [I've been playing the game so long that my handicap is in Roman numerals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hope/i-ve-been-playing-the-game-so-long-that-my-handicap-is-in-roman/) [Bob Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hope/) > [A German merchant of the fifteenth century asked an eminent professor where he should send his son for a good business education. The professor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-allen-paulos/a-german-merchant-of-the-fifteenth-century-asked-an-eminent-professor/) [John Allen Paulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-allen-paulos/) > [I have no statistics to prove it, but I'm sure the American workplace will be adversely affected on Monday, the day after XXIV. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-klein/i-have-no-statistics-to-prove-it-but-i-m-sure-the-american-workplace/) [Robert Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-klein/) > [It's the Roman numeral for 10. 5/5/89 is my birthday: 5 plus 5 is 10, and this is my tenth year since I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-brown/it-s-the-roman-numeral-for-10-5-5-89-is-my-birthday-5-plus-5-is-10/) [Chris Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-brown/) > [Do you think Arabs are dumb? They gave us our numbers. Try doing long division with Roman numerals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/do-you-think-arabs-are-dumb-they-gave-us-our-numbers-try-doing-long/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [How do you write zero in Roman numerals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/how-do-you-write-zero-in-roman-numerals/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [Programming graphics in X is like finding the square root of PI using Roman numerals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-spencer/programming-graphics-in-x-is-like-finding-the-square-root-of-pi-using/) [Henry Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-spencer/) > [“XVXVI, or 10-5-10-5-1, yielded H-E-H-E-A, which, unless she wanted to show her derisive laughter, made no sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-r-king/xvxvi-or-10-5-10-5-1-yielded-h-e-h-e-a-which-unless-she-wanted-to/) [Laurie R. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-r-king/) > [“Speaking of plunging into war, do you know why I think George W. Bush is so pissed off at Arabs? They brought us algebra.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/speaking-of-plunging-into-war-do-you-know-why-i-think-george-w-bush/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [“What does it feel like to be latent? I don’t know. What does it feel like to be so old that your birth certificate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-wright/what-does-it-feel-like-to-be-latent-i-don-t-know-what-does-it-feel/) [Suzanne Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-wright/) > [Basic Hoes Twitter Name, LICK My This, EAT My That, Roman Numerals, Pretty This, Bad That, Minaj This, Monroe That Or Barbie This.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-heggs/basic-hoes-twitter-name-lick-my-this-eat-my-that-roman-numerals/) [Christian Heggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-heggs/) > [“And you can glance out the window for a moment, distracted by the sound of small kids playing a made-up game in a neighbor's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delillo-don/and-you-can-glance-out-the-window-for-a-moment-distracted-by-the/) DeLillo Don > [“Underlying all this activity—in the customhouses, on the wharves, in every place of business—were numbers. Merchants measured out their wares and negotiated prices; customs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-j-devlin/underlying-all-this-activity-in-the-customhouses-on-the-wharves-in/) [Keith J. Devlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-j-devlin/) > [Man is a rational animal—so at least I have been told. … Aristotle, so far as I know, was the first man to proclaim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/man-is-a-rational-animal-so-at-least-i-have-been-told-aristotle-so/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) ## More by Joan Rivers > [I didn't want to do 'Fashion Police' because I thought, 'This is stupid, this is beneath me, who wants to talk about fashion?' It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-didn-t-want-to-do-fashion-police-because-i-thought-this-is-stupid/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I was getting dressed and a peeping tom looked in the window, took a look and pulled down the shade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-was-getting-dressed-and-a-peeping-tom-looked-in-the-window-took-a/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [All my way through college, I worked my way as a window dresser for Lord & Taylor, so I always liked fashion. I always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/all-my-way-through-college-i-worked-my-way-as-a-window-dresser-for/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Everyone thinks Angelina Jolie was the first celebrity baby hoarder, but she wasn't. Before Angelina there was Mia Farrow. Mia had an entire farm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/everyone-thinks-angelina-jolie-was-the-first-celebrity-baby-hoarder/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I have no sex appeal, which kills me. The only way I can ever hear heavy breathing from my husband's side of the bed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-have-no-sex-appeal-which-kills-me-the-only-way-i-can-ever-hear/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Life goes by fast. Enjoy it. Calm down. It's all funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/life-goes-by-fast-enjoy-it-calm-down-it-s-all-funny/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [If you hate something, you hate it, and if you like something or somebody, you like it, but tell the truth. And most celebrities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/if-you-hate-something-you-hate-it-and-if-you-like-something-or/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I have no line. If I think it's funny, it's funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-have-no-line-if-i-think-it-s-funny-it-s-funny/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I know now that everybody in the arts is forever a beginner. Experience counts for a great deal and very little. Every night onstage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-know-now-that-everybody-in-the-arts-is-forever-a-beginner/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Why women don't blink during foreplay... not enough time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/why-women-don-t-blink-during-foreplay-not-enough-time/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [My breasts are so low now I can have a mammogram and a pedicure at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/my-breasts-are-so-low-now-i-can-have-a-mammogram-and-a-pedicure-at/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I love Vines. You make this 6.4-second drama, and you can reach 6 million viewer, and make people laugh. I find it so fabulous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-love-vines-you-make-this-6-4-second-drama-and-you-can-reach-6/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [Grandchildren can be annoying - how many times can you go: "And the cow goes moo and the pig goes oink"? It's like talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/grandchildren-can-be-annoying-how-many-times-can-you-go-and-the-cow/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [I'm a New York girl. I come out of New York theater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/i-m-a-new-york-girl-i-come-out-of-new-york-theater/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [All babies look like Renée Zellweger pushed against a glass window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/all-babies-look-like-ren-e-zellweger-pushed-against-a-glass-window/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) [Explore all 417 Joan Rivers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) ## More Eleven quotes > [As a little boy of eleven I entered the Cadet Corps. I was not particularly eager to become a Cadet, but my father wished…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manfred-von-richthofen/as-a-little-boy-of-eleven-i-entered-the-cadet-corps-i-was-not/) [Manfred von Richthofen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manfred-von-richthofen/) > [Las Vegas is a resort whose two chief sources of income are seven and eleven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evan-esar/las-vegas-is-a-resort-whose-two-chief-sources-of-income-are-seven-and/) [Evan Esar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evan-esar/) > [People kept asking, 'What's your market?' I've got no idea at all other than me, an eleven year old kid in a 56-year-old body.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graeme-base/people-kept-asking-what-s-your-market-i-ve-got-no-idea-at-all-other/) [Graeme Base](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graeme-base/) > [I've been in eleven no-hitters you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bert-campaneris/i-ve-been-in-eleven-no-hitters-you-know/) [Bert Campaneris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bert-campaneris/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Still, waking up this early was just wrong. “Why can’t people be reasonable and only die after eleven A.M.?” I whined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-rowland/still-waking-up-this-early-was-just-wrong-why-can-t-people-be/) [Diana Rowland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-rowland/) > [The Baron, unfortunately, turns it all the way up to eleven." "Seriously? Because, you know, that's one more evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-landy/the-baron-unfortunately-turns-it-all-the-way-up-to-eleven-seriously/) [Derek Landy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-landy/) > [The ten hottest years in the atmospheric record, going back only 160 years, have been in the last eleven years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/the-ten-hottest-years-in-the-atmospheric-record-going-back-only-160/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [Until the Nineteen-Eighties, when Deng Xiaoping designated the area as China's first special economic zone, Shenzhen had been a tiny fishing village. Suddenly, eleven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-specter/until-the-nineteen-eighties-when-deng-xiaoping-designated-the-area-as/) [Michael Specter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-specter/) > [I love playing Eleven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/millie-bobby-brown/i-love-playing-eleven/) [Millie Bobby Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/millie-bobby-brown/) > [Possession is eleven points in the law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colley-cibber/possession-is-eleven-points-in-the-law/) [Colley Cibber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colley-cibber/) > [As for poker, I've stayed away from that, even though when I was in Vegas for Ocean's Eleven, I would get accosted by these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/as-for-poker-i-ve-stayed-away-from-that-even-though-when-i-was-in/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [I was brought up in the kind of Catholic situation up until I was about eleven years old, which was that God is this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-harrison/i-was-brought-up-in-the-kind-of-catholic-situation-up-until-i-was/) [George Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-harrison/) > [ I met one child there eleven years old, speaking three languages \[in Guinea\]. He could speak English, French and Malinke. Speaking my language actually… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-met-one-child-there-eleven-years-old-speaking-three-languages-in/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I am in Paris. Yes ma'am , I made it back. I came up from Berlin, stopped here ten days, fought a losing battle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-anne-porter/i-am-in-paris-yes-ma-am-i-made-it-back-i-came-up-from-berlin-stopped/) [Katherine Anne Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-anne-porter/) Browse all 387 Eleven quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "She doesn't understand the concept of Roman numerals. She thought we just fought in world war eleven.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joan Rivers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-roman-numerals-she-thought-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eleven" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-roman-numerals-she-thought-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/joan-rivers-669_eleven_she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-ro_1119809.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/joan-rivers-669_eleven_she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-ro_1119809.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d7/joan-rivers-669_eleven_she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-ro_1119809.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“She doesn't understand the concept of Roman numerals. She thought we just fought in world war eleven.” — Joan Rivers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joan Rivers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "She doesn't understand the concept of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-roman-numerals-she-thought-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/she-doesn-t-understand-the-concept-of-roman-numerals-she-thought-we/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```