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Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by Bud on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:08AM (#29368251)
French is not actually that weird; it's just weird from 80-99. From 10-79, it's just like English handles it. They just never came up with single words for 80 and 90.
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by smoe on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:43AM (#29368490)
I think various french speaking regions outside France do use single words for those. E.g. in neighboring Switzerland I learned 70, 80, and 90 as septante, huitante and nonante if I remember correctly (I'm from the german speaking part)
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by Bud on Sunday November 28, 2021 @08:10AM (#29368633)
Yes, they do. Belgian French has "nonante", for instance, which would be better, but which just never caught on in "standard" French. It appears in my Cassell's French Dictionary, but it's marked "dial." for dialect.
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by CorrectHorseBat on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:34AM (#29368425)
But they actually did! Septante, huitant/octante and nonante are real French words. Only the French don't want to use them.
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by GistNoesis on Sunday November 28, 2021 @10:08AM (#29369435)
Note that you cannot use heptante for septante.
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by MauranKilom on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:11AM (#29368270)
It's also weird for 50-59. English does not say "fourty twelve" ("quarante-douze").
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by CorrectHorseBat on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:19AM (#29368333)
Neither does French, you're confusing 50 with 70. https://frm.wiktionary.org/wiki/quarante-douze

Edit: 50, not 60.

Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by bramjans on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:25AM (#29368370)
At least in Belgium we fixed that with "septante"
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by CorrectHorseBat on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:28AM (#29368390)
But making things completely logical would have been too much for us so we kept quatre-vingt.
Re:Why are German numbers backwards? by Lamad123 on Sunday November 28, 2021 @07:26AM (#29368376)
It's weird form 70-79 as well! To say 79, you need to say sixty-ten-nine!