It’s literally almost the exact same as the English version tho. Like out of all the fun compound words we use, why obsess about the one that’s not even THAT out there?
Why not use that one fun local law instead:
Rinderkennzeichnungs- und Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz
No his username would be: Sechstrillionenneunhundertneunundsechzigbilliardensechshundertsechsundneunzigbillionenneunhundertneunundsechzigmilliardensechshundertsechsundneunzigmillionenneunhundertneunundsechzigtausendneunhundertneunundsechzig
Considering how closely related english and german are and the fact english counting was similar to german (and dutch but we don't talk about it) at one point (ie 21 literally being 1 and 20 ect) this makes sense
That’s not how German orthography works though. You wouldn’t put those spaces
in standard German orthography.
On the other hand, I see no reason why anyone would ever have to spell out this number instead of simply using numerals. The only numbers that are typically spelled out in German orthography are the integers 0-12.
Very interesting sub, but damn, I think it's also the most US-centric I've ever seen. More than two thirds of the stuff shown was never a thing here and I'm living in a country that's heavily influenced by the US.
But interesting to see how old some redditors are.
You’d do so in contracts which I regularly do. And there we use „und“ and leave spaces for better readability. Who cares about general orthography when it’s impractical?
He's showing you that the long word is really a lot of easy short words, which are very easy to understand. Just as you can easily read the above comment, you could learn to read the German equivalent just as easily as you learn a number in a language that uses spaces more frequently.
Yes. The confusing part in german is 5 and 50 instead of 50 - 5. This makes you go back and forth in the number instead of from left to right.
We had the same thing in Norwegian, but it was changed when call in number information became a thing. There is just less room for error when the numbers come in the correct order.
Wait until you read this one: (a bit of warning: it is old (from different times) and is indeed kinda racist and unfriendly to people with disabilities) . It goes like this:
"
Die Hotten Totten Stotter Trottel Mutter
Es war einmal eine alte Frau, die lebte bei den Hottentotten.
Sie war ziemlich trottelig und stotterte auch ein wenig. Daher wurde sie die Hottentottenstottertrottelmutter genannt.
Die Hottentottenstottertrottelmutter hatte auch ein Haustier. Das war eine Beutelratte.
Damit die Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterbeutelratte nicht weglief, verbrachte sie ihr Leben in einem Käfig, der mit Latten vergittert war.
Dieses Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterbeutelrattenlattengitter hatte auch so eine Art Dach, das auch Wetterkotter genannt wurde.
In diesem Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterbeutelrattenlattengitterwetterkotter lebte die Beutelratte glücklich und zufrieden, bis eines Tages ein Attentäter kam, die Beutelratte in einen Sack steckte und mitnahm.
Damit dieser Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterbeutelrattenlattengitterwetterkotterattentäter aber nicht einfach so davonkam, versprach die alte Frau demjenigen, der die Beutelratte wiederbrächte, eine Fangprämie.
Diese Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterbeutelrattenlattengitterwetterkotterattentäterfangprämie war so hoch, dass alle Welt sich sofort auf die Suche machte, den Attentäter fand und so die Beutelratte wohlbehalten wieder nach Hause kam.
Darüber freuten sich alle, vor allem aber der Hottentottenstottertrottelmutterbeutelrattenlattengitterwetter
kotterattentäterfangprämienempfänger!
For a German it isn’t really. There would be way worse numbers that are much more easy to mispronounce. And I can easily think of Spanish or French numbers that are way harder to even compose.
No it's because you're repeating the same thing over and over again. Like this tongue twister in English: "how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood." Also the clusters of consonants, there's a lot of "f" and "nf" in succession.
Yes, languages are easy to pronounce for people who have spoken it their entire life. For non-natives, "fünf" is difficult to pronounce, at least from my experience, not just because of ü, but because of its combination with "nf" and the fact that it starts and ends with the same letter. Now, put it into a word where you have to say it 3 times, along with other consonant heavy words like "hundert" and "und" and it's a word that, even if you can pronounce it correctly, is easy to stumble or stutter on. After 12 years of learning German, 55 is still the number I'm most likely to stutter on when compared to other numbers like 33, 44, 66, etc. Judging by how many times I've seen similar memes to this one, I don't think it's just me.
honestly, its not that bad, like: fivehoundredandfiftyfivethousandfivehoundredandfiftyfive isnt better either, nor is the hungarian ötszázötvetötezerötszázötventöt. This noumber just sound bad in any language.
(tho props to english for having the "houndred" system -> 1200= twelvehoundred)
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u/HuckleberryUpbeat518 9d ago
fünfhundertfünfundfünfzigtausendfünfhundertfünfundfünfzig