The times when this was decided are remote in terms of computing. We're probably talking about mid-eighties. Excel is an office tool, and probably most of its u

The times when this was decided are remote in terms of computing. We're probably talking about mid-eighties. Excel is an office tool, and probably most of its users work in offices where not a single word of English is spoken, ever. So I don't think it was "asked by the users" but rather what's expected from a basic office tool, to be localised in your language.