4 ms·
It used to be common to count by scores (twenties) in English, though this has mostly disappeared other than for poetical/literary usage (e.g., "Four score and
by Turing_Machine 4y ago
It used to be common to count by scores (twenties) in English, though this has mostly disappeared other than for poetical/literary usage (e.g., "Four score and seven years ago").
Dozens (twelves) were also quite common, and are still in everyday use for certain commodities (eggs, donuts, etc.).
- Turing_Machine 4y agoDozens even go out to another level of base 12, now that I think about it. A gross (144) is twelve dozen, so you could have something like 6 gross, 5 dozen, and 3.
- dragonwriter 4y agoThere is at least one more level, “great gross” is 12³, 1728. There is also, per Wikipedia, apparently the mixed-base “small gross” / “great hundred” = 120, which I have never encountered in the wild.
- johntb86 4y agoThe long (=great) hundred is 120, while the long thousand is 1200. It seems pretty understanding, so I wonder if anyone ever needed to use a long hundred thousand and worked out what that was supposed to be.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago> It used to be common to count by scores (twenties) in English, though this has mostly disappeared Counting by scores isn't enough to be base 20. The special quantities designated by the system are still 10, 100, and 1000, an obvious sign that the numbers are conceived of in base 10. If the system pivoted around 20, 400, and 8000 (as the dozen/gross system you mention does), then you could (and should) call it a base 20 system.
- Turing_Machine 4y ago> The special quantities designated by the system are still 10, 100, and 1000, an obvious sign that the numbers are conceived of in base 10. I actually gave an example of this. "Four score and seven" = 4 twenties, 7 units. That's base 20.
- thaumasiotes 4y agoNo, it isn't. It's base ten.