What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 17 May 2024.

You know what a kostka is. Six sides. Numbers from 1 to 6 totalling 21. An item which may indirectly lead you to realise which of your friends gets seriously competitive about Monopoly. Reminds you of that shopping place near the airport.

Or, if you’re feeling like a dictionary definition, a ‘polyhedron used in games of chance’.

The oldest die was found near the Indus River and is believed to be about 5,000 years old; they became particularly popular in Ancient Rome.

And they were so popular that we’re now looking at a street which is named after the people who made them (please let me know if there’s a more interesting word for that than ‘diemaker’).

Apparently, their popularity in the Middle Ages meant that there were multiple decrees and laws banning them (this sounds extreme, but you assume that there was some sort of anti-gambling drive involved).

The street’s name has shifted subtly over time, having gone from Kostková to U kostkářů to Kostečná.