I understand our commonly used numbering system is a denary or base ten system. That is you go from 0 to 9 and then begin on the next level and that holds true for the first ten numbers and then all numbers from twenty up (until we get to 111 but that is also part of the problem.

So, let us start at 0, then 1, then 2 etc all the way to 10.

BUT the numbers after 10 breaks with the system and is called ELEVEN, then TWELVE and then we get into seven other oddball numbers called the “TEENS”.

Why?

Why does it not stick to the system? Why is 11 not called Ten-one and 12 not called Ten-two, and 13 not called Ten-three the way the rest of the system works?

Or, for that matter and for consistency, why isn’t 10 called “Tenty” and thus have Tenty-one, Tenty-two and so forth

Or conversely, why is 30 not called Twenty-ten, 31:Twenty-eleven; 32: Twenty-twelve and so on up to 40 when we start over again with Forty-one through Forty-nineteen? (although, technically 40 should be 30 but let’s save that for a different question).

Maybe this is just my CDO getting to me but it is really bothering me.