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Kratzkopf t1_j1zypsk wrote

In the Sherlock Holmes books numbers are often in the form of e.g. "two-and-twenty" instead of the currently usual form of "twenty-two". To me this change to start with the more significant number makes sense. But what led to this change in numbering and when did it take place? Did it follow a longer debate? Was there a transition period? Could a similar transition happen to other languages like german, where at the moment a "two-and-twenty"-style numbering is in place?

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CrateDane t1_j226egf wrote

> To me this change to start with the more significant number makes sense. But what led to this change in numbering and when did it take place? Did it follow a longer debate? Was there a transition period?

You could argue we're in a stalled transition period. The teens have not been switched - it "should" be teenthir instead of thirteen etc.

>Could a similar transition happen to other languages like german, where at the moment a "two-and-twenty"-style numbering is in place?

I don't see why not, in principle. Some German books even recommended that in the early days of adoption of the Arabic numerals (which are the reason for the confusion - they go in the opposite direction of original Germanic pronunciation of numbers). Martin Luther wasn't a fan though, and that was probably the deciding factor. It's unlikely anyone will decide to switch it around anytime soon, but not impossible.

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Mammoth-Mud-9609 t1_j21klu7 wrote

The books weren't originally books, but were stories printed in Strand magazine and dramatically increased the sales of the magazine as a result. These stories were published in different years under broad categories such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes or The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, so the "The Adventure of the Crooked Man" was published as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (the second series of these) and it was the 8th adventure in that series or 2 8.

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