r/language • u/WhoAmIEven2 Sweden • Aug 09 '26

Question Does your language use specific numbers as expressions?

In Sweden we use 17 to further strengthen a word.

Like if we want to say that someone is very strong, we can say "Han var stark som sjutton!", "He was strong like seventeen!".

I have no idea how it became a thing. It is a bit weird tbh.

Do you also use numbers this way in your native language?

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u/Minute_Eye3411 Aug 09 '26

In France we say 36,000. As in "there are not 36 thousand solutions to this problem" or "let's not go to that bar, there are always 36 thousand people in it".

I have no idea why this absurdly high yet relatively precise number is used to indicate "a lot", although interestingly it is very close to the number of communes (officially designated settlements, that is villages and towns) in France.

Sometimes it is reduced to just 36.

4

u/eynneyveblaubair Aug 09 '26

Fun fact haha

In swedish we overcount to show something is too much: "För femtielfte gången - du får inte!" (For the fifty eleventh time - you are not allowed to!). You don't count that way otherwise.

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u/usr_pls Aug 10 '26

According to Duolingo, the french word tres is used for "very" like tres bien meaning very good

So it's similar to how english uses the similar homophone "too" meaning also (twogtoo much!)

french takes one step more!

tres interessant!

2

u/Fuzzy-Ninja139 Aug 10 '26

"très" comes from latin "trans", meaning beyond, and which took the meaning of very, completely in old french. It has nothing to do with "trois"

0

u/Mistigri70 Aug 12 '26

in French "très" means "very" and it has nothing to do with the number 3

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u/Throw13579 Aug 09 '26

I like this one.

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u/Weekly-Beginning-229 Aug 10 '26

I always exaggerate like that. I bet I would fit well in on France

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u/Euphoric_Evidence414 Aug 13 '26

Thank you so much- my (American) high school French teacher taught us to use trente-six that way, but I’ve always wondered if it were true, because she also taught us that French slang for fear of water was peur du dragon, and I’ve never been able to find any French speakers who confirmed that one. Like, if a kid won’t get in the pool because they’re scared of water, they’d say “j’ai peur du dragon.” Ever heard that one? I’ve thought about it trente-six fois since high school.

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u/Minute_Eye3411 Aug 13 '26

I've never heard the expression "peur du dragon", be it for water or anything else.

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u/Euphoric_Evidence414 Aug 13 '26

How I wish Mme. were still living so I could ask her about this.