Metric measurements?

[JohnnyC]

Thank god we all don’t count like the French....

 

[David Wilson]

Thank god we all don’t count like the French....

You mean using "soixante-dix" (sixty-ten) for 70, "quatre-vingts" (four-twenties) for 80 and "quatre-vingt-dix" (four-twenty-ten) for 90? I understand that the Belgians and the Swiss may have simplified matters by using "septante" for 70, "huitante" for 80 and "nonante" for 90 in their versions of French.

The German use of "vierundzwanzig" for 24 may be the exact translation of the "four and twenty" in the number of "blackbirds baked in a pie" in the English rhyme Sing a song of sixpence, but it's still quite hard to get one's head around it.

 

[David Wilson]

Then there's the Continental European vs Anglo billion/trillion/quadrillion debacle. Is a billion a thousand millions (10^9), or is it a million millions (10^12)?
Long and short scales - Wikipedia

The French and the Germans have the words "milliard" and "Milliarde" respectively for a thousand million. I don't think the word "milliard" has caught on in the English-speaking world, though.

 

[Storker]

You mean using "soixante-dix" (sixty-ten) for 70, "quatre-vingts" (four-twenties) for 80 and "quatre-vingt-dix" (four-twenty-ten) for 90?

Look at Danish. It's perfectly logical up to forty (firti), but from then on everone else gets confused. Sixty is "tres" (tre snes, i.e. three score), eighty is "firs" (fire snes, i.e. four score). Fifty is "halvtres" (half three score), seventy is "halvfirs" (half four score) and ninety is "halvfems" (half five score). Fortunately, they manage to get back on track at hundred ("hundre")

The French and the Germans have the words "milliard" and "Milliarde" respectively for a thousand million.

As have the Scandinavians.

 

[JohnnyC]

Four twenties ten nine!!!!!

Yeah, it's stupid.

 

[dmaziuk]

The French and the Germans have the words "milliard" and "Milliarde" respectively for a thousand million. I don't think the word "milliard" has caught on in the English-speaking world, though.

Russians stole milliard and douzaine but our decimal counting is straightforward and consistent. Except for tumen and myriad and pre-decimal grosses and masses...

 

[Joebar]

The only important volume unit ist the Pint

 

[Wathdoc]

Unless its a yard

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I assume you mean this yard

 

[dmaziuk]

Unless its a yard

Or a dram