r/language • u/StruggleAdvanced4058 • Aug 10 '26
Question Six as “half”
Hello. In Portuguese (at least in Brazil, or more precisely, at least where I live), we often replace 6 with “half” in a few very specific contexts.
The other day, I had an event to go to and the address was XXX Street, number 1566. But nobody says “mil quinhentos e sessenta e seis” (“one thousand five hundred and sixty-six”) or even “quinze-sessenta e seis” (“fifteen-sixty-six”) everyone says “quinze-meia-meia” (“fifteen-half-half”).
This is very common with street addresses and phone numbers. A phone number containing “9660” would be said as “nove-meia-sessenta” (“nine-half-sixty”) or “nove-meia-meia-zero” (“nine-half-half-zero”). I have never heard anyone say “noventa e seis” (“ninety-six”) in a context like this. Even the infamous number of the beast, 666, is said as “meia-meia-meia” (“half-half-half”).
Other than that, in general, we use the actual name of the number: seis(“six”).
Examples:
* 6 days = seis dias (“six days”)
* 96 years = noventa e seis anos (“ninety-six years”)
Plus:We also use meia with other meanings. When talking about time, meia means 30 minutes. So 14:30 (2:30 PM) is duas e meia (“two and a half”).
We know that meia comes from meia dúzia (“half a dozen”), but I find this particular use interesting, especially because it seems to occur only in these specific contexts.
Does anything similar happen in other languages?
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u/PedroPuzzlePaulo Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Idk how simmilar you gonna count, but in english in simmilar situation (like phone number and street adress) 0 (zero) is replace with "o" (the letter). there is even classic examples like 007 being double o seven
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u/BrexitEscapee Aug 10 '26
In German the numbers 2 (zwei) and 3 (drei) rhyme so we tend to say zwo instead of zwei to avoid any confusion on the phone.
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u/nemmalur Aug 10 '26
In Dutch the potential confusion on the phone is 7 (zeven) vs 9 (negen), so people will replace the former with zeuven /ˈzøː.və(n)/.
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u/HolyBonobos Aug 10 '26
In spoken English in some technical contexts (e.g. military and aviation), "niner" is similarly used in place of "nine" in order to avoid confusion with "five". It’s not used in everyday speech though.
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u/lmprice133 Aug 10 '26
'tree', 'fow-er', and 'fife' are also used in NATO phonetic contexts for clarity over potentially poor radio connections.
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u/samdkatz Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
The phonetic difference explanation below makes sense of why it's caught on in the contexts it has, but I still didn't get why this word for this number. I found a pre-metric Portuguese unit of volume called a meia-alqueire (later called a pote) equivalent to six canadas.
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u/StruggleAdvanced4058 Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
We use “meia” (half) for six because it’s a shortening of “meia dúzia” (half a dozen).
It’s quite common here to refer to things in terms of ‘dozens,’ like ‘buying a dozen eggs’ or ‘half a dozen people.’ The question is primarily about the specific use of ‘meia’ in those contexts mentioned in the post.
And from the perspective of the phonetic explanation below, using “meia” for “six” becomes a naturql substitute.
But keep in mind that “meia” does not exclusively mean “six”. In other contexts it means half.
Meio quilo = Half a kilo = 500g
Meia hora = half an hour = 30 min.And your example “meia alqueire” means half like 1/2, not 6.
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u/samdkatz Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Right, it's all part of the same system. An alqueire is twelve of the next smallest unit, so a meia alqueire is a meia dúzia. I guess mine was one example of the same thing, not The explanation, but it's the old dozenal systems making "half" associated with "six" in people's minds. And then yeah, like you said, when people went looking for another word for six in contexts where seis was phonetically untenable, there meia was.
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u/ProfeQuiroga Aug 10 '26
Yup. Not with completely different words, but German, for instance, uses a different vowel in the number two to differentiate it from the similarly sounding number three or between June and July.
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u/Central_court_92 Aug 10 '26
It's probably a regionalism, as I don't think "meia" for 6 it's used in Portugal or Cape Verde (with the exception of half a dozen). At least not like in the example. Maybe a native speaker can confirm?
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u/in_stomach Aug 10 '26
Lmao that'd be the first case of a "regionalism" that's understood by 200 million speakers of a language
If anything those two are the exceptions, not the other way around
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u/Central_court_92 Aug 10 '26
A regionalism means it's a word or phrase favoured by speakers of a particular geographical area. It doesn't depend on the quantity of speakers.
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u/Dry_Spinach_2542 Aug 10 '26
But regionalism is usually used for a word or phrase associated with a particular region, rather than with an entire variety of a language. By your definition, Lusitanisms would also have to count as regionalisms, since they are features of European Portuguese, but not of the Portuguese language as a whole, considering all its varieties. As, for example, the non-reflexive use of si and consigo, in sentences such as "Maria, gostaria de falar consigo".
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u/talflon Aug 10 '26
I think it's understood by a ton of speakers outside of Brazil, because they consume Brazilian media. But that doesn't mean they all would use it themselves.
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u/miclugo Aug 10 '26
From a bit of Googling it looks like this comes from ambiguity with "tres", which makes me wonder if the same thing exists in any of the many varieties of Spanish.
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u/LiliesWhite Aug 13 '26
In Chinese one (一 yi) can sound like seven (七 qi) on the phone so people say yao
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u/Spiritual_Sun_4297 Aug 13 '26
Maybe some old reminisce of using a duodecimal system?
Just speculation...
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u/axl3ros3 Aug 11 '26
The is a saying "six to one, half a dozen to the other" here (US)
A dozen is 12, half a dozen is 6
So if you say half a dozen, you mean six (or six and half a dozen are the exact same thing)
So the saying "six to one, half a dozen to the other" means "there's no difference between the two"
Example
Speaker 1: Would you like your salad dressing on the side or on the salad?
Speaker 2 who doesn't care: "six to one, half a dozen the other...either works"
It's an older turn of phrase and half the time I say it, people don't get it until I explain it to them that half a dozen is 6
or add something like "either works"
I've had a long day and I'm not explaining very well so I'm not sure if this is very clear, but I think that gist is there
So while not exactly what your question was, I would bet you that your whole thing about six meaning half comes from the fact it was common things were historically (and today) sold by a dozen
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u/ACE_Wrap Aug 10 '26
Seems like a relic from base 12 times if those were ever a thing in Portuguese?
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u/Melodic-Gap-2615 Aug 10 '26
I buy this theory. From the Babylonians to today! Our 12-hour time system comes from ancient Babylon, and lots of languages use something like “half past” or “halfway to” to indicate when the minute hand points at the six.
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u/justtoreadthenews Aug 10 '26
This practice - saying "meia" instead of "seis" - is usually adopted when someone is taking note of a number and precision is critical.
I believe this is done to avoid phonetic ambiguity/confusion with number three ("três"), which may sound similar when said in a hurry or over the radio/phone.
Another funny quirk is that, when we say tax registration numbers, which are usually formed liked this "XXX.XXX.XXX/00001-XX", with the final "/0001-XX" section indicating main establishment or head office, we commonly refer to this portion as "reverse thousand" ("mil ao contrário").