Eleven Out Of Ten People Prefer This Kind Of Math

A group of girls is on the way to school on my morning bus. I overhear one of them come up with a shower thought in real-time:

Girl #1: “Why is it eleven, and not one-ety-one?”

Girl #2: “Because it sounds funny?”

Girl #3: “Yeah, ‘cos then it would be two-ety-two!”

All the girls chuckle a little.

Girl #2: “Three-ty-three!”

They all burst into laughter now.

Girl #3: “Haha, yeah, or forty-four! …Oh.”

Momentum stalled, they’re all silent for a moment. All you can hear is the engine of the bus.

Girl #1: “Five-ety-five!”

Cue the laughter again.