Phrases such as "eight and thirty" were not uncommon in English.
There is an old nursery rhyme that speaks of "four and twenty blackbirds
baked in a pie." Such variations may occasionally still be heard in dialect
speech.
Another variation, which should be of interest to a Francophone:
Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address (1863) begins "Four score and
seven years ago.." A score being 20., this is the English for
quatre-vingts-sept. This usage was already very old-fashioned when Lincoln
spoke, but he assumed the hearers could figure it out.
Cheers
Dan
> nr 38", de Moivre uses the expression "Eight and Thirty" (with capital
> letters) instead of "thirty-eight". Can anybody explain what was exactly
> the game "The Royal Oak" (or at least give references) and know whether
> the use of expressions like "Eight and Thirty" denotes an old practice
> in english which would have disappeared except in some special cases such
> as games. Thanks to all who will communicate informations.
>
Daniel J. Curtin
Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor, Mathematics
Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY 41099
USA
(606) 572 -6938 or (606) 572-6348
curtin@nku.edu, http://www.nku.edu/~curtin/, KF4AV