It turns out there is an answer of sorts. Eleven and twelve were originally phrases equivalent to “one-left” and “two-left”, from when people couldn’t count without their fingers. (Three-left was apparently too big a step for most people until some genius invented “three-teen”. “To three-teen and beyond!”)
It turns out there is an answer of sorts. Eleven and twelve were originally phrases equivalent to “one-left” and “two-left”, from when people couldn’t count without their fingers. (Three-left was apparently too big a step for most people until some genius invented “three-teen”. “To three-teen and beyond!”)