Meet Japan's loosest cannon
Tokyo region's governor, Shintaro Ishihara, who seems to specialise in upsetting just about everyone. Having irked Japan's neighbours, women ("old women who live after they have lost their reproductive function are useless and are committing a sin"), crow lovers and Lefties, he has now taken aim at the French language, calling it "neglectful and appalling" and "French is disqualified as an international language because it is a language that cannot count numbers".
While quatre-vingt-dix-sept etc does seem a bit silly to folk raised on the names of English numbers, our Gallic chums do seem to have had their share of mathematical whizzes, and there appear to be flourishing banking and accountancy businesses across the Ditch, so it would seem that the French are happy enough with their system.
He has a downer on the Beijing regime, supports Taiwan and likes the Dalai Lama, so he can't be all bad. Apologies to any would be readers in the 'People's Republic' of China, as I'm banned there.
(Shocking typo in the headline corrected. Insufficient caffeine at the time of posting. Apologies)
While quatre-vingt-dix-sept etc does seem a bit silly to folk raised on the names of English numbers, our Gallic chums do seem to have had their share of mathematical whizzes, and there appear to be flourishing banking and accountancy businesses across the Ditch, so it would seem that the French are happy enough with their system.
He has a downer on the Beijing regime, supports Taiwan and likes the Dalai Lama, so he can't be all bad. Apologies to any would be readers in the 'People's Republic' of China, as I'm banned there.
(Shocking typo in the headline corrected. Insufficient caffeine at the time of posting. Apologies)
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on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 10:58 am.
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Yu shd be banned everywhere until you start showing RISPEC for bleeding-heart lefties and their fantastic nonsense.
Maybe when they start showing me some....
Maybe Mr Ishihara should try Swiss French. They have sensibly done away with the soixante-dix and quatre-vingt nonsense and use instead septante, huitante and nonante.
So in short the hitch has a japanese doppellganger?
Swift, I believe they use similar French in Quebec.
Hitch - does he get your vote?
Swift - The Belgians, too.
Although, I must say, when I lived in France, the day I responded to "quatre vingt dix-sept" by handing over the correct change without a thought was a proud day indeed.
C
If I were-god forbid-Japanese I would be wone of those sword wielding construction helmet and face mask wearing nationalists that occasionally come out of the woodwork over there
Croy - this guy is a Quebec-o-phile & je peux vous dire d'ores et deja that they use the same words as the Frog. It's just their accent is hysterically funny. Audio/video on Radio-Canada usually works. Quatre-vingts is appently the norma in Belgique & Geneve.
Croydon - the forbidden city.
I suspect that there is a very poor pun involving 'et in Acadie ego' to be had
When I asked my vet in France why the French had this complicated numbering system, and why didn't they just use septante, huitante, neuvante, he burst out laughing in genuine amusement. Laughing and shaking his head. I said, "Well, what's so funny?"
And he replied, practically wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, "That is just so Belgian!"
My sources tell me that if one speasks French with a cockney accent, the average Gaul will take you for a Belge.
The Belges are ringing, for me and my Gaul.
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