this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2024
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Funny: Home of the Haha

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[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 48 points 1 year ago

Katre-van-deez-nuts

Ha! Je les ai eu!

[–] arymandias@feddit.de 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not to defend the French but the more correct representation would be 4 * 20 + 10 + 7.

Also if you take this meme to the extreme it would be best to just say “97” which requires a unique word for every number instead of a system to construct them. So I guess there is a balance to be struck in number composition.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

also "ninety" is literally just a shortening of "nine ten", it's not like the french pronounce the whole thing either, i'd wager it usually comes out more like "katvandisett" which isn't much worse than "ninetyseven"

[–] Noodle07@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Actually we do prononce it entirely, at most dropping the first syllable

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[–] lemmy@lemmy.stonansh.org 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] ours@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Same for Swiss French except for Geneva (of course).

[–] myster0n@feddit.nl 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Not in Geneva? So what's the convention there?

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[–] MrGerrit@feddit.nl 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

"We aren't all Eric Einstein!" 😂

[–] ShortFuse@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] jinarched@lemm.ee 19 points 1 year ago (5 children)

80 (quatre-vingt) comes from the base 20 system. That's a vestige from pre indo-European languages (specifically the Gauls) that ended up influencing France.

Interestingly (if I'm not mistaken), in Switzerland they actually say "huitante" and in Belgium they say "octante".

[–] fluckx@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

In Wallonia ( french belgium ) you're also likely to hear "nonante" for 90 IIRC

[–] hakase@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Gauls were Celtic, which is Indo-European. Maybe you meant "Pre-Romance"?

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[–] SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And the French get offended if you use the wrong word. I went to a shop there and asked if something was ninety (there is a word for that). The shopkeeper gives me a scathing look and says with emphasis it's four twenty ten.

[–] Vrijgezelopkamers@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

'Nonante' is used in the French-speaking part of Belgium, but it's generally frowned upon in France.

[–] SlopppyEngineer@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

frowned upon

as in "you just wiped your ass with my language, my country and the history of my ancestors" it seems

[–] Vrijgezelopkamers@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They kind of stare at you as if you just farted in the most obscene way possible.

Or they passive-aggressively make you repeat what you said until you say it 'right'.

Or they reply in a kind of exaggerated broken English.

[–] The_v@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

Not the ever so polite French!

I spent a lot of time in the country when I worked for a French owned company.

It's a beautiful country, too bad about the epidemic of sticks in their asses. I am so glad it hasn't spread to their neighbors.

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[–] pigup@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

🚫🤢fr*nch🤮🚫

[–] Lord_ToRA@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ninety also means 9*10 since -Ty has its roots in the old Gothic word tigjus which means tens/decades https://www.etymonline.com/word/-ty

That Japanese is also 9*10 is not really surprising since counting in most languages is in base-10

[–] hessenjunge@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 1 year ago

Same with the German ‘zig’ which is also mentioned in your linked page. It’s also used elsewhere e.g. “zigfach” meaning many times.

[–] MisterFrog@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Growing up bilingual in German and English, can I just say german's "7 + 90" is pretty dumb too.

397 is 300 + 7 + 90: 100s 1s 10s. For bigger numbers you're doing it repeatedly.

In German for every set you're saying the digits and tens in the wrong order. You get used to it, but only if you grow up in Germany (I didn't), else it forever does you head in reading numbers.

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[–] str82L@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago
[–] moitoi@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago

In old French, 127 was 6*20+7.

It's the fact of using base 20.

[–] kSPvhmTOlwvMd7Y7E@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Russian be like:

  • ten
  • two ten
  • three ten
  • centipede
  • five ten ...
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[–] Astronautical@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

For reference, 97 in French is " Quatre Van Dix Neuf"

[–] hydrospanner@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Quatre-vingt dix-sept*

[–] 5gruel@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I love that for reference you got spelling and meaning wrong.

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