Words are Fun

People often misunderstand me when I say “fifty” as saying “fifteen.” These words are very similar in Dutch as well: 15 in Dutch is “vijftien” and 50 is “vijftig”…which means the only sound that’s really different is that throat-clearing g at the end of 50.

In Spanish, you have quince (15) and cincuenta (50) which are, in comparison, much different.

Related: “until” is a strange word if you look at it long enough. The etymology is (probably) Old Norse and old-ish English (und and till [check out this discussion of the word “till”!]). For “until,” in Spanish, you have “hasta que,” in Dutch “tot” (as in a popular way to say goodbye, tot ziens [kind of like a really short “until we see each other again”]).