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In most languages in Europe 23 is written as twenty-three, only German and Dutch it is spoken and written like three-twenty. What is the reason/cause of that?

Marijn
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  • It used to be the same in English. – Carsten S Feb 29 '16 at 19:50
  • Oh, and when was it changed and why? – Marijn Feb 29 '16 at 19:52
  • http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3903/19th-century-english-texts-occasionally-use-germanic-style-number-words-such-as http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/218077/where-do-these-numbers-come-from-and-do-we-still-use-them http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2014/11/lexicon_valley_the_history_and_evolution_of_writing_out_numbers_in_the_english.html – Carsten S Feb 29 '16 at 19:53
  • @Carsten Comments shouldn't be used as answer substitutes. – hiergiltdiestfu Feb 29 '16 at 20:24
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    @hiergilt I had hoped that the links might help to answer the question or more likely to clarify the question. So far the only answer that I could give would be “that has always been the Germanic way”. I do not know if that would be satisfactory. Anyway, I remembered the Lexicon Valley episodes, but none of the details. – Carsten S Feb 29 '16 at 20:31

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