In Danish we have a weird mixture of base ten and twenty (and a bit of base 12 as well).<br><br>For numbers below 50 we have names equivalent to those used in English, including unique names for 1-12 and a suffix for 13-19, and 20-49 is just a combined number for the tens and ones.<br><br>And the strangeness begins; the Danish word for 50 when unpacked and translated becomes "half of the third score", 60 becomes "three score" and so on to 90 which is "half of the fifth score".,(reply>), @Kabitu1 same with Dutch - 5.30 is half six. Same in Indonesia. But, confusingly, in Malaysia, where they speak the same language as Indonesia (Malay), they say it the English way. Indonesia was a Dutch colony, of course, while Malaysia was an English one.,(reply>), We dont speak of danish here.,(reply>)," to me half five being <a href=""http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSlGJ9FNHOk&amp;t=5m30s"">5:30</a> makes sense because it's five plus a half. it's like saying five and a half ", 5½," hours. it took me a while to understand that in German <a href=""http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSlGJ9FNHOk&amp;t=5m30s"">5:30</a> is literally half six meaning half an hour before six. <br>in English we use base 10 and occasionally 12. eg seventy (seven ten) and two dozen", 2 * 12, 24. also there's baker's dozen which is 13. so yeah.<br>English is a stupidly confusing language, so to keep the sanity that you have, don't try to understand the reasons why English is the way it is.,(reply>), @Badger0fDeath<br>English is strange when it comes to those things.<br><br>You would expect half something would be half a unit less then something.<br><br>Like XI is 11 and IX is 9.,(reply>), The Norse word for twenty was 'tuttugu'.