Howie Hua
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Thursday 24 July 2025 15:51:49 GMT
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Rangsk :
I bet you're fine with "one third" though. I think this stems from usually only talking about smaller denominators in common speech. Up to 1/20, "first" and "second" never show up. Thus, it feels weird to use "one twenty first". "One half" and "one third" can be internalized as special cases as typically happens with a very small numbers. From there the ordinals feel like saying the number with the TH suffix. 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th. Then we hit the teens and they all have special names that all end in TH. Eleventh, twelfth, and then all the teenths. 21 is the first time you encounter the fact that we're actually just using the ordinals, so saying 21st is odd because it's the first "non-special case" that doesn't end in TH.
2025-07-24 21:17:50
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Μανώλης Λάρδας :
I would assume it has something to do with twenty first sounding like an ordinal, basically, but that can't be the whole picture, because one twenty third sounds way more reasonable, I think.
2025-07-25 12:48:10
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Skyxs :
would you also say one/twenty-twoth? and twenty-threeth?
2025-07-27 19:07:09
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George :
Similarly, I have pronounced 1/e as “one eeth” as a joke
2025-07-24 16:11:51
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Keshaviscracked :
one twenty onth
2025-07-24 15:55:09
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Eddie Price :
My initial reaction was "one twenty-first". But the fact that you were asking could have influenced my gut reaction. And I agree that "twenty-first" sounds a bit weird. That being said, I would on l understand someone saying "one twenty-first" or "one twenty-oneth" so I don't think it's a serious issue as long as we understand each other! It reminds me of a time when a professor in grad school was talking about nth roots of 2 and ended up saying "2th root of 2" at one point. As funny as it might sound, no one was confused by what was meant.
2025-07-24 16:22:41
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Matt Parnell :
"a twentyoneth" because for me the ordinal in my perspective is (1/21), not 21. The ordinal suffix therefore attaches to that fraction, a fraction isn't a 1 so it's not a first. …but saying that, context is important. there are times I would say oneth, rather than first, when I'm talking about 0-based indices. As the "first" element is at index 0, it's the zeroth element… the "second" element is at index 1, the oneth element.
2025-07-24 17:10:37
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AyeKwick :
We have separate words for “half” and “quarter” so why not something like “a twunth”? 😃
2025-07-26 10:52:13
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Michael Merryweather :
One divided by twenty one
2025-07-26 20:28:48
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andrwandrwwvvwvvw :
1 over 9 plus 10
2025-07-25 04:50:59
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Aaron Houston :
If I have to share my cake with 20 other people, I’m just getting a second cake and eating 1 tenth or 1 eleventh.
2025-07-24 17:25:51
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Clio :
Follow-up: For 1/22, do you want to say "twenty-second" or "twenty-twoth"?
2025-07-24 21:44:13
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benroyal :
My solution is to only cut cakes, pizzas, etc. into even numbers of pieces, thereby avoiding this problem altogether. I guess that’s more of an evasion than a solution…
2025-07-24 23:53:47
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fj17283 :
I said, 1/21st because if you are in a race and in the “21” place you are 21st
2025-07-24 17:03:03
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yungrender :
Interestingly enough I’d say “a/one twenty-first” but “two+ twenty-oneths” 🤔
2025-07-25 01:36:40
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Shaaz :
Why wouldn’t you just say “one over twenty-one” though?
2025-07-24 18:43:55
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samcrawley493 :
Id say “a” 21st
2025-07-24 17:21:24
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- :
…focusing on this is why English lit majors’ understanding of math ends at fractions.
2025-07-25 16:46:02
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MarK :
same about 1/22, one twenty-second or one twenty-twoth...
2025-07-24 16:34:42
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nivaG___ :
The last day of July would be the thirty first not the thirty oneth
2025-07-24 16:02:23
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SilentPartner :
What can’t I say one over twenty one? I actually can say it.
2025-07-25 20:32:00
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Gareth McDonald998 :
What about 1/22 ? One twenty second sounds right there, but One twenty twoth doesn’t
2025-07-26 06:21:21
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emyk082021 :
I pronounce 1/11 as one-eleven-irst
2025-07-24 19:46:36
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cliff.750.3 :
math minds think alike
2025-07-25 12:43:31
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MikeHunt :
It sounds weird because you are used to using the top number phonology as a basis for the bottom. But you would have no problem saying twenty-firsr century or july twenty-first
2025-07-24 19:18:47
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