Answer
Basically the legacy of counting in twenties.
see the following:
http://monsu.desiderio.free.fr/curiosites/septante.html
languages do evolve particularly in countries where there are several layers of etymology due to various invasions, which, in the case of france have been numerous along the centuries.
there are also different ways of counting in english as any mathematician will tell you, depending on which basis you start from.
who is
to judge what is "proper"? are the americans being more "proper" than the british by saying "two weeks"
than "a fortnight"?
poor old french, every
thing is a nice
reason to cast stones at them these days. have you thought of casting your mind to the peculiarities, or lack of logic, inherent to the english language?
"through" a "thorough" examination you will get a "rough" idea that "ought" to fill your "trough" of discontent, which is "tough" ,"though" it may give you a nice
"giggle
" and make you "cough" at the same time. just a "thought"!
