a couple of questions

[rone]

[Poll #786659]

Comments

[pvaneynd]

French is worse: 17 means "any random number". Italian uses 2. If zoutke asks me for "2 spoons" it might be 2, 3 or 150.

Not my favorite feature of those languages. In dutch we use "een aantal" "a number of" for a vague amount.

[marknau.livejournal.com]

Oh no. 2 seems like a catastrophic number to use for an arbitrary amount. I can just imagine all the inefficient "do you mean two really two?" conversations happening all the time.

Per capita GDP:
ITA 27700
FRA 28700
NED 29500

More efficient language makes everyone better off!
QED.

Seventeen!

[vardissakheli.livejournal.com]

Is that the origin of the Humbug (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3667/is_199510/ai_n8724858)'s exclamation? I never knew.