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…for 100 somethings? 
Posted: 02 September 2002 01:45 PM   [ Ignore ]
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In English we say a dozen for 12 somethings (a baker’s dozen for 13 things).

The French use douzaine… however, they also have a word for 10 somethings: dizaine and for 100: centaine.  We use centennial but that means 100 years (which brings to mind lustrum another word I will be obliged to suggest!).

does the Aenglisc world have equivalents for these?

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Posted: 02 September 2002 04:03 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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I can’t think of a formal word for this.

Something else did, however, spring to mind.  In the cricket playing world, they use the expression ‘hit a (or the) ton’, meaning a score of 100 runs.  That made me think of ‘doing the ton’ whilst driving: driving at 100 miles per hour.  I searched the OED to find that ton is informal, chiefly Brit., meaning ‘a hundred, in particular a speed of 100 mph, a score of 100 or more, or a sum of 100 pound sterling [sorry no symbol for that on my keyboard!]’

Not quite what you were looking for, but fairly interesting anyway.

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Posted: 02 September 2002 06:47 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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actually, there are other words I thought of after the fact:

2 = pair/couple
3 = triad
4 = quaternion
5,6,7 = quintuple, sextuple (sounds like fun), septuple

That made me think of ‘doing the ton’ whilst driving: driving at 100 miles per hour.

that’s not legal down there is it?  I do that regularly here in LalaLand but it’s grounds for a pretty ticket (don’t even get me started on that one!) and some points on the old record.

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Posted: 02 September 2002 07:04 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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actually, there are other words I thought of after the fact:

2 = pair/couple
3 = triad
4 = quaternion
5,6,7 = quintuple, sextuple (sounds like fun), septuple

Don’t forget one gross, although Tolkien cautions that it is not a polite one to use if referring to people.

that’s not legal down there is it?  I do that regularly here in LalaLand but it’s grounds for a pretty ticket (don’t even get me started on that one!) and some points on the old record.

Normal speed limit (around town) is 50 kmph; in a few isolated instances the limit is 60 kmph.  The speed on a motorway or on an open road (ie not in a built-up area) is 100 kmph.  Therefore, doing 100 mph (160 kmph) is severely frowned upon and attracts a huge fine and many demerit points (or so I am told...).

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Posted: 02 September 2002 07:15 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
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the French also use quinzaine and seizaine to indicate 15 and 16… and I guess in general they can indicate any number with -aine… which reminds me of the Swedish -tal serving roughly the same purpose e.g. tusentals = thousands and 1800-tal = 1800s (19th century).  antal = number.

Therefore, doing 100 mph (160 kmph) is severely frowned upon and attracts a huge fine and many demerit points (or so I am told...).

in certain states here like Montana, they don’t have speed limits.  where I live, even though the limit is 70mph, most everyone drives 80-85 with some (like me) red-lining whenever possible…

you can’t police everyone all the time smile

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Posted: 02 September 2002 09:32 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
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A ‘ton’ is sometimes used in Canada to mean 100 mph, although as Canada switched to metrics many years ago, the term has likely fallen into disuse. A ‘ton’ is also sometimes used to refer to other units of measure, such as pressure, e.g., 100 lbs/sq in.  

A ‘grand’ means a thousand dollars in both Canada and the U.S., ‘ten grand’ means ten thousand dollars, etc. ‘K,’ pronounced ‘kay,’ is also sometimes used to mean a thousand dollars, as in "We raised 20K to finance the project."

A ‘great gross’ is 12 x 144 = 1,728 units.

All these describe a specific number of general units.

For specific types of units, the list quickly gets longer.

Quantities of time have long had names: minute, hour, day, week, weekend, etc.

Fluid measure is notorious for the number of names that refer to specific volumes, and especially so with respect to wines and spirits: shot, mickey, fifth, jeroboam, hogshead, etc. 

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Posted: 03 September 2002 09:27 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]
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Perhaps not useful for your purposes, but for endurance athletes like I pretend to be, we use the word century to describe a 100 mile event (usually a bike ride/race).  I’ve been in about 8 or 9 myself, and finished all but one (cracking my frame in Chattanooga didn’t lend well to finishing the race :’( ).

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Posted: 03 September 2002 10:45 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]
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A score is twenty.

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Posted: 04 September 2002 03:15 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 8 ]
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Cock-er-ney Numbers For Beginners

2=   Brace
5=   Godiva (as in Lady Godiva - Fiver) - usually for £5
10= Pavarotti (as in Tenor - Tenner) - again £10
12= Dozen
20= Score
50= Monkey (don’t ask me why)
100= Ton
200= Pony (see monkey!)
1000= Grand or K

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Posted: 04 September 2002 04:31 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 9 ]
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A ‘fin’ is five dollars. 

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Posted: 04 September 2002 08:13 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 10 ]
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Perhaps not useful for your purposes, but for endurance athletes like I pretend to be, we use the word century to describe a 100 mile event (usually a bike ride/race).  I’ve been in about 8 or 9 myself, and finished all but one (cracking my frame in Chattanooga didn’t lend well to finishing the race :’( ).

It’s used for a race of 100 of any units, apparently, or 100 of any similar things.

Main Entry: cen.tu.ry
Pronunciation: ‘sen(t)-sh(&-)rE
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin centuria, irregular from centum hundred
Date: 1533
Inflected Form(s): plural -ries
1 : a subdivision of the Roman legion
2 : a group, sequence, or series of 100 like things
3 : a period of 100 years especially of the Christian era or of the preceding period of human history
4 : a race over a hundred units (as yards or miles)

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