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From: pardoej@lonnds.ml.com (Julian Pardoe LADS LDN X1428)
Subject: Re: Arabic numbering system
Message-ID: <DFyzBC.Jvs@tigadmin.ml.com>
Sender: usenet@tigadmin.ml.com (News Account)
Reply-To: pardoej@lonnds.ml.com
Organization: Merrill Lynch Europe
References: <44v57a$7og@glazunov.cs.colostate.edu>
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 09:50:00 GMT
Lines: 22

In article <44v57a$7og@glazunov.cs.colostate.edu>, holland@glazunov.cs.colostate.edu (douglas craig holland) writes:
-->In article <DF7ouK.HME@tigadmin.ml.com>,
-->Julian Pardoe LADS LDN X1428 <pardoej@lonnds.ml.com> wrote:
-->>In article <43k2kr$7t8@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>, timd@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (Tim Dugan) writes:
-->>-->What's really weird is that 99 in French is 4 20 19!
-->>
-->>I'm not sure it is.  Languages that who have a number system is based on 20 are not
-->>uncommon.  (At least one of the) Scandinavian languages do(es), more to the point,
-->
-->I'm trying to remember my French here... Ah.. 99 = quatre-vingt-dix-neuf, (sp?)
-->or four-twenty-nineteen.

Well "four score..." would be more idiomatic which reminds me that I forgot
to point out that English has vestiges of a base-20 system too: three score years
and ten...

And you could split that French down more and say "four score, ten and nine".
(BTW thanks to the person who pointed out my slip is saying "four score and five
and fifteen" instead of "and four and" when giving the Welsh.)

-- jP -- 

