Back in Frances time these were large numbers. One million five hundred thousand one hundred eight, like ??? That’s how people in the future will look at you when you say that number in English. Stop counting people, our brains are not meant for this
Just ask the Danish how to “calculate” their word for 90, and you will consider the French approach simplicistic.
In a way, Danish is more clear than French, because all numbers between 50 and 90 are based on the vigesimal (base-20) system.
Oh yea, “half to five” aka 4.5 times 20. Very intuitive…
90 = Half fives.
50 = Half sixty.
70 = Half (I don’t even know how to translate this)
Huh? 50 is halvtreds (20 * 2.5)
70 is actually halvfjerdensindstyve, literally “half to the four(th20) times 20”. So the base number (20) * 3.5…
The problem is, Danish people can’t understand each other even with the simplest of words, so they just say halvfjerds.
70 = halfway to the fourth twenty
In other words, three twenties are 60, four twenties are 80, halfway between them is 70.
Same for the other ones: 50 is halfway to the third twenty, 90 is half more than the fourth twenty.
Unlike English when the name for those is seven-tens, eoght-tens, nine-tens?
Or “four score (20) and seven years ago” (4x20, +7= 87)
Or Roman numerals being like XIV (10, + (5-1) = 14)
…the numbers have always been maths. Always
Me in high school french:
70: soixante-dix ohhh trippy, 60 10, why not start at 50, that’s strange so 80 will be soixante-vingt (60 20) right? … right?
80: quatre-vingt 4 20’s?
but why 60 20 and then 4 20?
Seems like my lifelong hatred for the French was justified after all!
Quatre-vingt blaze iet
Septante, huitante et nonante
that
We should conspire to put this un use in all francophony
Found the French Swiss
*Swiss-french.
We optimized French like we optimized German.
The correct way.
Afaik Belgians don’t use huitante, Swiss people do
Belgians are better at French than the French
Swiss people do. Belgians still use four-twenty, alongside septante and nonante, which is a whole other level of absurd
It comes from way before French. Some tribe, Celts, or whatever, call them Gauls, although it doesn’t really mean anything other that “people who live in that area according to the Romans”, counted in twenties. And that’s one of the things they’ve left us. For better or for worse.
That and Asterix.
And look how far we got without it, it’s all in your head buddy
Country burning to a crisp because of the climate armageddon? Far indeed.
Quatre vingt dix nuts lol gottem
Basé et nombre pilé
Lol wait until you find out about the Danish counting system, truly unhinged.
What’s wrong about it?
Halvfjerds, half fourth. Clearly that’s seventy.
But it’s short for halvfjerdsindstyvende. Half fourth’s in twenties. Yep that’s seventy my friend
I assume the name refers to the fact that you are halfway to the fourth twenty from the third?
Yep, that’s it
When I learnt Danish the number system legit took me far longer than anything else xd, maths classes were certainly interesting.
You learnt the reason why they call it that way, but Danes don’t think that way. They just know that 60 is called tres, that’s it.
“French” does indeed have them, it’s just that the French don’t use them. Luckily the Belgians do.
But 70,80,90 are English numbers
Tough, though, throw, trough, thorough, through, thought.
I’m charging you with assault.
Parce qu’on a eu la Gaule trop longtemps !
Yeah Danish is a bit wild with numbers too.
