how to pronounce numbers

[Thomas Okken]

(06-26-2018 01:23 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  In a related but OT topic, here is an article on phrases Americans use, which are supposed to be not understood by non-Americans. Is that true, at least in general?

I knew all but three (behind the eight ball, cattywumpus, and clutch), but I didn't learn them in school. I picked them up from American books and movies, mostly. For example "bought the farm" is a phrase I first encountered in "Space" by James Michener, where it is how test pilots say that one of them has died (which was not an uncommon occurrence, apparently). I figured out the meaning from context, but it took longer before I discovered that this phrase was in common use, and not specific to test pilot jargon.

Oh, and I learned "flake" from Frank Zappa.