zlacker

[return to "Who Can Name the Bigger Number?"]
1. GotAny+XD[view] [source] 2015-02-17 10:18:45
>>jeremy+(OP)
When I was around 14 years old I was baby sitting a kid who was 3 or 4 or something. He came up to me and said "I bet I can say a bigger number than you." clearly proud of what he had just learnt in preschool. I accepted the challenge, he took a deep breath and said "Five hundred!", so I said "Five hundred and one". He looked determined and said "Ok then! Five hundred and fifty hundred and five hundred million hundred five hundred" (Or something that makes no sense like that). So I said "Five hundred and fifty hundred and five hundred million hundred five hundred, and one". He looked horrified and said "Can you just say 'and one' for any number?" I told him yes, and he said "Cool!".
◧◩
2. poizan+pH[view] [source] 2015-02-17 11:45:15
>>GotAny+XD
And every since has that poor kid believed that "Five hundred and one and one" was a valid number.
◧◩◪
3. Xophme+xL[view] [source] 2015-02-17 12:55:56
>>poizan+pH
It kind-of-is, it's just not particularly well-formed/ambiguous linguistically.
◧◩◪◨
4. GotAny+zU[view] [source] 2015-02-17 14:57:18
>>Xophme+xL
A bit like 99 in French: quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

four twenties and ten and nine

◧◩◪◨⬒
5. eitlan+551[view] [source] 2015-02-17 16:34:57
>>GotAny+zU
I knew the Danes where counting in a crazy way but I didn't know the French did this as well.

One more reason I'm happy English is the most common international language I guess.

◧◩◪◨⬒⬓
6. Xophme+8b1[view] [source] 2015-02-17 17:21:09
>>eitlan+551
Number systems by complexity: http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/ts/language/number.html
[go to top]