WHY do the Germans read numbers backwards? By the end of the 15th century, Arabic numerals became common in written German. They were recommended to be
read from left to right. But when numbers didn't exist, the Germans always wrote units first (one dash for 1, two dashes for 2) and only then - tens (X - 10).
As an example, the notation IXX used to read "one and twenty". The Germans still have such a peculiarity. Previously, writers and mathematicians were constantly pointing out the problem of the distorted transmission of numbers. But all their attempts to do anything about it were suppressed from above.
