tal , 16 days ago

I don't think that that was Lincoln's invention. I think that he was using some archaic European notation that made its way into English.

A lot of languages have some pretty odd ways of speaking numbers.

kagis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigesimal

In several European languages like French and Danish, 20 is used as a base, at least with respect to the linguistic structure of the names of certain numbers (though a thoroughgoing consistent vigesimal system, based on the powers 20, 400, 8000 etc., is not generally used).

"Eighty-seven" in English is "quatre-vingt sept" in French; "four twenties seven", which is basically what he's saying.

Sing a Song of Sixpence has:

Four and twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie.