I think it's also used in archaic English 'four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie'

The timing of "two... PLUS ANOTHER NINE WITH A ZERO AFTER IT" is something I'll never experience in my native tongue.

Ha, never learn Danish!

Is it 180? 290? 92?

you'd never get invited for coffee and smokes

Well, you take the rough with the smooth with English:

Smooth:

• verb conjugation rules are straightforward
• adjective declension is trivial - don't do it
• easy to make most plurals, only a handful of exceptions to learn
• no grammatical gender

Rough:

• can't have too many words that mean almost-but-not-quite the same thing
• spelling is the fever dream of a madman. In particular, eighteen or so vowel sounds represented by five letters, words transliterated from other languages that may or may not have their pronunciation changed, words that have had their pronunciation changed over the centuries but spelling hasn't been updated. Because fuck you, that's why.
• putting two words together to make noun phrases that don't have the meaning of either word
• a plethora, indeed a veritable abundance, of strange grammatical forms

You mostly take the rough, to be fair.

Fain is very archaic, it's not something that would be used anymore. Even back in 1906 it was archaic.

wait i know that word and i know how to parse it but i don't know what the fuck it means. nobody tell me it is hidden in the coffee

Nah, this is just how things go with traditional masculine circles. A certain level of aggression is both expected and respected, and harassing random strangers is seen as a harmless pastime, so long as it's the 'right' strangers being harassed. Someone who responds with the appropriate level of aggression to the harassment is considered amusing and respectable, and, especially since men are conditioned in our societies to not show 'weakness' by things like 'needing socialization', expansion of social circles (temporary or long-term) can happen this way.

It's honestly not a great social function, lmao, and luckily not as prominent as it used to be, but I can attest both by personal experience/observation and stories from family that it's a real thing.

"Applause was brought forth by all onlookers to our exchange of wits"

Inshallah everyone clapped

Nah. They love the haggle. And he most likely still made a nice profit. If they announce 10, you can bet they still turn a profit at 4.

funk

"Ow, stop poking me, that stick is sharp!"