On 28-3-2015 10:23, Stephen wrote:
> On 27/03/2015 21:52, Andrel wrote:
>
>> Hi Guys, been busy lately, so not always time to check p.o-t
>>
>
> That's good.
>
>> The story about this as I remember it is that most of GB used to say 4
>> and fifty (and some still do) but that some king or queen decided that
>> fifty four better fitted what was written.
>> And that we write 54 because four and fifty was exactly what the arabs
>> were saying too, and they write right to left.
>>
>
> The King bit does not seem right to me. So I went looking. This is the
> only thing I could find.
> You might find it interesting. On the other hand you might find it
> patronising and with the odd racist comment.
>
>
>
http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2014/11/lexicon_valley_the_history_and_evolution_of_writing_out_numbers_in_the_english.html
>
>
>
27 minutes long? No patience ;-)
I found this (short) answer:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3903/19th-century-english-texts-occasionally-use-germanic-style-number-words-such-as

Not entirely satisfying though.

-- 
Thomas

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