Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 27th Oct 2009 00:37 UTC
In the comments on our editorial about language purism and the Psystar case, it became quite clear that language is a subject almost everyone has an opinion on - not odd if you consider that language is at the very centre of what makes us "human". Since this appears to be a popular subject, let's talk about the influence computing has had on two very minor aspects of the Dutch language.
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RE[3]: Comment by kaiwai
by coolvibe on Tue 27th Oct 2009 11:56
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by kaiwai"
Member since:2007-08-16
I like the finnish way of counting. It's quite simple, but numbers transcribed to words get scarily long. Some examples:
[1] yksi
[8] kahdeksan
[10] kymmenen
[11] yksitoista
[18] kahdeksantoista
So allright, that looks simple enough, but wait until we get to higher numbers:
[20] kaksokymmentä (not that bad)
[21] kaksokymmentäyksi
[39] neljakymmentäyhdeksan (could be worse)
[1337] yksituhatkolmesatakolmekymmentäseitseman (uuh...)
[31337] kolmekymmentäyksituhattakolmesatakolmekymmentäseitseman (argh)
No wonder the Finns don't talk that much. 
RE[3]: Comment by kaiwai
by akavel on Tue 27th Oct 2009 13:35
in reply to "RE[2]: Comment by kaiwai"
Member since:2009-10-27
Member since:
2009-05-24
I can never get used to the Danish way of counting. It's almost as bad as the French.
[50]
Swedish: femtio (five [times] ten)
Danish: halvtreds (half third [times twenty], where half third = 2.5)
[60]
Swedish: sextio (six [times] ten)
Danish: tres (three [times twenty])
[99]
Swedish: nittionio (nine [times] ten [and] nine)
Danish: ni og halvfems (nine and half fifth [times twenty])