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This is a bigger culture shock than the metric vs imperial system to me. (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/justpost@lemmy.world
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[โ€“] 32 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Never understood how ground floor and first floor aren't always synonymous. If the ground floor is a floor, then how could it not be the first of the floors?

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  • [โ€“] 21 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    They might think of it as zero floor as if you were dealing with the decimal system. You even start your number count with a zero in computer science.

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  • [โ€“] -1 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Kinda weird to have a floor 0, though, right? People outside of computer science generally start counting at 1. Like I said before - the first floor you step on is the first floor. To say it's the 0th floor would make me think it's a hypothetical floor that doesn't exist, which is usually what 0 signifies.

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  • [โ€“] 8 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    We never say 0 though, we say ground. If it's written down it's -2, -1, G, 1, 2 etc, which by chance makes it a bit easier represented by the decimal system and in computer science.

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  • [โ€“] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    But you're skipping over the fact that ground is the first floor you're on. I get that digitally it makes sense, but the floors are named for human comprehension, not mathematical or computer science arrays. If someone says "it's on the first floor" and you're walking in on a floor, there shouldn't be any confusion as to whether it's on the first floor you walk in on, or the second floor you walk to, called the "first floor."

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  • [โ€“] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    I see your point, but it could just be that the 'best' system is just what you're used to (akin to the Celsius vs Farenheit argument). There's a load of systems that are slightly different between countries, and make perfect sense to those using the system but make absolutely no sense to anyone outside that system.

    I guess the best thing is that this has created some awareness of the minor differences which may save some confusion later down the line should anyone visit a country using a different system.

    To sort of answer your comment though, I don't see the ground floor as the "first floor" you'd be on because it's just the ground. It's hard to explain, but that's just what I'm personally used to, and saying the ground floor is the first floor doesn't make sense to me. Because I'm used to the "ground" system I'd know that if someone said something's "on the first floor", and I'm in my country, I'd go to the first floor above the ground floor.

    If I went to the US for example and someone said something's on the first floor I'd look at what I'd call the ground floor, because I now understand that it's different.

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