The 4½ = ●●●●◖ = [four +] ½fifth is not unique to Danish. In Czech, we say „čtvrt na osm“ (quarter to eight), „půl osmé“ (half of eighth) and „tři čtvrtě na osm“ (¾ to eight) to mean 19:15, 19:30 and 19:45, respectively, so I kinda get it.
Similarly, in German, 🕢=„halb acht“.
And ninety, halvfems, short for halvfemsindstyve or halv-fem-sinds-tyve, means “fifth half times twenty”, or “four scores plus half of the fifth score” [4½ * 20].
I think the Britons used scores as well for some time.
I think the German solution works better for the German language. 'neunzigundzwei' sounds worse than 'zweiundneunzig' or at least less flowy. But I'm obv biased by being German lol and this is just one example.
Almost 30 and I still have issues pronouncing certain 2 digit numbers. Like 67. I sometimes need to think for a sec to pronounce it correctly. Spoke German all my life. The other way around would be much simpler for me but I also feel it's weird.
That aside: wtf is going on with the Danes?
Edit: Just reread my own comment with my own example I came up with 10 seconds ago and struggle to pronounce it correctly in my mind.
I'm Norwegian and grew up in one of the yellow belts. I use the two ways of saying numbers interchangably. There are only small parts of Norway people might get mildly confused if I said two and ninety instead of ninetytwo.
If German was to start counting the other way wouldn't it be neunzigzwei and not neunzigundzwei?