Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to…count.
2 Likes
I was looking forward to brining up the mad Danish way of counting but a real Dane beat me to it. However, Danes quite often simplify their counting when in the presence of Swedes who haven’t a clue what they’re on about otherwise because they count more like in English.
1 Like
We’re watching a wonderful, subtitled Danish TV series called Seaside Hotel that takes place around WWI and II, and encountering spoken Danish for the first time. Every once in a while we hear what sounds like a single German word, or a single English word or phrase… Otherwise we can’t make out a thing. It must be a very difficult language to learn to speak correctly.
Ah, Badehotellet, nice series.
Jesper
We absolutely love this series. The last one we watched that was somewhat close to this level was The Durrells in Corfu.
Oh, that was very nice also.
Jesper
in spanish we have similar names:
cuadrada (square, rare) - redonda (round) - blanca (white) - negra (black) - corchea - semicorchea - fusa - semifusa - garrapatea - semigarrapatea
in relative time it would be, respectively
2 - 1 - 1/2- 1/4 - 1/8 - 1/16 - 1/32 - 1/64 - 1/128 - 1/256
I don’t know if what for french is called a long is our cuadrada or the “longa”, because the longa is over the cuadrada, with a relative time of 4, but I think is no more in use. There was the “máxima”, too, with a duration of 8.
I actually erred (twice)…
in French that should have read a “round”, which is a whole note. (and the previously mentioned error of a half crooked, which should have been a double crooked.)
I must have been in “brain off” mode when I first wrote that post.
So, that’s what they mean when they say, “Sixty is the new Forty!”
Actually both you and @Michel_Edward are wrong. Septante and nonante are both used in Belgium, not really France. Although they are both used less and less.
1 Like
… I did see that, but I didn’t have the heart to correct you twice!
1 Like
According to Linguno, ( I have no idea if it’s reputable):
“‘Nonante’ is used to say ‘ninety’ in some parts of the French-speaking world, most notably Belgium, Switzerland, and some regions of Canada. It is part of a decimal counting system, as opposed to the vigesimal (based on 20) system used in France”.
Before any Americans laugh at the quaint notion of a score equalling twenty, how about the beginning of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address: ‘Four score and seven (87) years ago our fathers brought forth…’.
2 Likes
Beware the spelling/grammar Nazi. I teach. We got a “style guide” on how to write reports, I assume the English department had some input. It claimed to describe the difference between “affect” and “effect”. The old “effect is a noun, affect is a verb” thing. I took great delight from then on finding ways to use “effect” as a verb in reports. Forcing “affect” in, as a noun, took a lot more doing, not sure I ever managed it.
I don’t suppose anybody noticed.
1 Like
This cabbie explains French numbers:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rmBqIFeHN8](https://Cabbie explains French numbers)
*“Cabbie” is a proper English word. Honest.
1 Like
Please DON’T!
1 Like
Y´all need to read the Release Notes for 5.1.60 all the way to the very end… 
2 Likes
As a spoiler:
Hold on to your bald eagles, folks! The colonial, tea-sipping limey spelling of “minimise” has been corrected to the true, freedom-loving, stars-and-stripes-approved “minimize.”
As Ben already pointed out, not all ‘ize’ endings are Americanisms.
4 Likes
Let’s not say corrected, but changed. Blah. Would be nice to have British English and American English options. But gosh, then they would have to change measures to bars and use crotchets and quavers… Not everybody is happy with American usage.
Just don’t minimize our “Freedom Frize.” 
2 Likes