4 ms·
I am sure it has been said, but it is not any more backwards than "thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen" -> three and ten, four a
by ggrrhh_ta 5y ago
I am sure it has been said, but it is not any more backwards than "thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen" -> three and ten, four and ten, five and ten...
In fact, in German it keeps being consistent, while in English and other languages you change the direction after 20... quite arbitrarily...
When you speak German they as backwards to you, as thirteen is to you when you speak English... Not backwards at all...
- Ekaros 5y agoAnd then there is eleven and twelve... Like not even consistency inside one decade... We in Finland have decency two say "one-second ... nine-second"
- vnorilo 5y agoYes, we say "yksitoista" (one of second), "kaksitoista (two of second) and so on until twenty, where we revert to "kaksikymmentäyksi" (two tens and one; ten in actual plural). But in some old books from the early 20th century, the reversal goes on beyond 20: "kaksikolmatta" (two of third) for 22 and so on. I do not know how that archaic usage deals with 100+.