Want to find out someone’s native language? Ask them how many fingers they have

[tszyn]

http://ask.antimoon.com/questions/453/want-to-find-out-someones-native-language-ask-them-how-many-fingers-they-have

[tedunangst]

Wrong. Every native English speaker I know would answer 10 fingers.

[ojbyrne]

As a native English speaker my answer would be ten. Second most likely would be five. I'd be unlikely to ever say eight.

[Terretta]

Conceivably, if asked as a science question:

"How many fingers does a gorilla have on each hand?"

One might hear, in English, "Four fingers and a thumb."

Otherwise, as a native English speaker, when asked "How many figures do you have?" I'm answering "ten".

[NickPollard]

As an Englishman, I'd say 8 fingers. Then again, I'm also quite pedantic, I figure some people would definitely say 10, but I wonder if it's a transatlantic thing.

[frodwith]

"It turns out that..."