500 in French

Years ago, I was in my second year of college French, and the teacher (Jack Hanner) asked in French how many people lived in my town.

I wasn't sure, so I guessed 500. I told him "Cinq cents"; cinq for five and cents for hundred. He asked, "500?" in English, and I nodded.

I'd never looked up 500 in French, probably fearing that I was wrong. But recently I got the nerve, and, lo and behold, cinq cents actually means 500.

I was relieved, of course; and I was happy I'd given Mr. Hanner the correct answer (although I think I mispronounced cinq; it's SANK).

By the way, I looked it up, and my hometown had something like 800 people, not 500. So I was wrong in that regard. Eight hundred would be huit cents.

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