Re: So it is true...

"Nigel Greenwood" <ndsg_mmii@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> No sign of the Danes wanting to simplify them, is there? (For those
> who don't know, Danish says something along the lines of "5 & half of
> the fourth score" for 75 -- ie even worse than the French
> soixante-quinze.)

Well, yes, that's the etymology. However, Danish speakers are
typically unaware of this and have simply learnt the words by heart:

50 halvtreds
60 tres
70 halvfjerds
80 firs
90 halvfems

If only speakers of Swedish and Norwegian would do the same instead of
trying to subtract and multiply, they wouldn't have a problem. :-(

> I've noticed on consumer product labels that a Uni-Scand version is
> sometimes used, with translations only when the words are very
> different. Eg on a "bath & creme" product one of the languages is
> "S/DK/N": the product is said to leave "huden din" (your skin, in
> Norwegian) "deilig myk/dejlig blød/underbart mjuk" (wonderfully soft,
> in N/DK/S -- ie the reverse of the stated order!). There seems to be a
> certain redundancy there.

Yes, this is fairly common. I guess it takes up less space than
writing it three (or four) times.

/Thomas
--
Thomas Widmann twid@xxxxxxxxxxx http://www.twid.bibulus.org
Flat 0/1, 57 Rose Street, Garnethill, Glasgow G3 6SF, Scotland, EU
.