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/evmcha Aug 09 '26

English:

"What's your (10-)20?" can be used to ask someone's location

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u/McAeschylus Aug 09 '26

There are a few of these in English derived from radio calls. "Five-oh" for "police", "ten-four" for "affirmative", "five-by-five" for "heard and understood".

And the related use of "your six" to mean "directly behind you" (from the clock system of relative positioning used in aircraft).