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Off by one solitude (fed.dyne.org)
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[-] TwilightKiddy@programming.dev 28 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

There is no such thing as "zeroith". Does not matter which numbers you slap on the tables, the one with the lowest number will always be the first. The word "first" has nothing to do with indices, it's just an antonym for "last".

[-] 0ops@lemm.ee 6 points 1 month ago

I kind of brought this up in another comment, that "first" and "1st" aren't really the same thing. Which is confusing when you extend that to fourth/4th five/5th. I don't generally see someone write "zeroith", but I'll see "0th".

[-] psud@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago

First and 1st are certainly different symbols for the same concept

The spelling for the index before the first is zeroth, no need to insert an extra vowel

[-] TwilightKiddy@programming.dev 4 points 1 month ago

And here I thought people write "1st" because they are lazy and want to press 3 keys instead of 5.

[-] sukhmel@programming.dev 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

There's no such thing as "zeroith" because it's called "zeroth โ€” being numbered zero in a series"

This works for building storeys, this would work equally well for tables. The only reason this is not used often is because the series are rarely zero-based in anything that doesn't also want to equate index and offset.

You're right that first may be read as "opposite of last", that would add to the confusion, but that's just natural language not being precise enough.

Edit: spelling

Edit2: also, if you extend that logic, when you're presented with an ordinal number, you would need to first check all the options, sort them, and then apply the position you're asked, that's not really how people would expect ordinal number to be treated, not me, at the very least

[-] psud@aussie.zone 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Americans also index their building floors from 1

A two storey American building has floors 1 and 2, where elsewhere they might be ground (zero) and 1.

[-] sukhmel@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago

Not only them, and I'm not here to blame ๐Ÿ˜…

[-] psud@aussie.zone 3 points 1 month ago

Indeed, however the Americans stand out in the anglosphere

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Canada sad.

They always forget about us.

[-] psud@aussie.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Which standard does Canada use?

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

1st floor is the entrance level.

[-] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 month ago

That's a problem when you get to the fourth.

this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024
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