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What’s an obscure but concrete technical fact that keeps creating preventable issues in the real world? (feddit.uk)
submitted 3 weeks ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[–] 39 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

In german and english, the comma in numbers is swapped. So the number 123.45 in german would be written as 123,45 while ironically, the thing that we used to separate thousands from hundreds is also swapped. So one-thousand-four-hundred would be written as 1,400 in english but as 1.400 in german ...

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  • [–] 24 points 3 weeks ago* (2 children)

    On top of that, you would pronounce 678 as six-hundred-seven-ty-eight in english ... guess what it is in german:

    Sechs-hundert-acht-und-sieb-zig (literally six-hundred-eight-and-seven-ty)

    i'm actually trying to change this point specifically because it irks me ... but i am sadly alone with it.

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  • [–] 13 points 3 weeks ago

    There are many European mechanisms that make more sense to me, like aluminum being “alumINIUM”, as with many other elements.

    But periods in the middle of numbers always felt wrong to me. We already have structures for sentences that pause, then eventually close a thought: “Billy played with Susie, and her dog. Cute!” Not “Billy played with Susie. and her dog, Cute!”

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