O vs 0

[AdrianCC100]

Why do people use the letter O to refer to the number 0? For example; you hear people go 7 and O when they are talking about a sports record. What is so hard about saying 7 and zero?

[etsumii]

it's easier to say than 7-zero.

Honestly, why does it bother you? =o

[Alfador]

Efficiency in communication. Try it sometime.

The only reason it's "zero" and not just "o" anyway is to avoid ambiguity. When there is none, differentiating is a moot point. If I'm talking a sports score and I say "fifteen and oh" they know exactly what I'm talking about, or if I say "apartment one-oh-six"

[joshh]

all about syllables, O is monosyllabic and zer-o is disyllabic. same reason you use the number 7 instead of typing out seven, its just easier

[klaps_05]

different cultures call it differently - zero null nill "o" etc

[Dashield28]

Just like pople in the communications fields refer to Zero as "not" electronics too. All flavors of human communications influenced by social norms/conventions.

For instance, why do Americans say that when the temperature is below freezing, they will sayd "It's below zero". Since they use the Fahrenheit temperature scale, freezing is 32F. It is because saying "It's below thirty two" takes too long.

---------- Post added 2011-02-02 at 11:36 AM ----------

different cultures call it differently - zero null nill "o" etc

Actually, null is not used to denote '0'. Null is the absence of a value.

[Shadock]

Actually, null is not used to denote '0'. Null is the absence of a value.

Or German for "zero" I think

[Deleted]

F zero

.

[Wamler]

The number or concept zero is written as the letter O. It has only one syllable, so it's quicker to say. However, over the phone 'oh' may be misheard, whereas zero cannot be mistaken for anything else. In UK-English a zero is called a naught, again one syllable. The term zero came into popular use as USA-English, probably around the time phones became commonplace. It hasn't become common use in the UK though.

[Seveer3]

In England at least its nil, if you were talking about football to someone and you said the score was three-zero they would actually look at you like you had just farted in their bed...

[Strossus]

Actually, null is not used to denote '0'. Null is the absence of a value.

Wrong, as the poster below you already explained. It's just another language.

[Manito]

It all depends on the context in which it is being used.

[Joe Christ]

It should be no surprise to anyone that the English language is a complete mess for more than just this one reason. I mean, you know something has gone horribly wrong when half the population can't speak, read, or write properly in their first language.

[joshh]

Wrong, as the poster below you already explained. It's just another language.

Partially right, in database design, null should generally be used only to represent the absence of a value, you can never do operations on a null, 1 + null is nonsensical. If you do an operation and convert a null to a different value, you should just use that value. That doesn't mean its not acceptable for common languages(non programming languages) to use imo.

[Vidal]

It should be no surprise to anyone that the English language is a complete mess for more than just this one reason. I mean, you know something has gone horribly wrong when half the population can't speak, read, or write properly in their first language.

Generally the people who don't use proper grammar or can't distinguish words such as "There", "Their" and "They're" aren't much too clever themselves. The majority of people I know, whether it's text or a formal essay for a end of year grade and such, all use correct grammar unless pressed for space in a text.

[Deleted]

Then just say No cause it's easier to say than Yes

[BoomChickn]

I guess its simply because it is easier to say, and sounds better. And english isn't the only language where there is grammatical incorrectness that makes it sound better. Take french for example. C'est pas mon jour (It's not my day) is not grammatically correct, the correct form would be Ce n'est pas mon jour. But the first form sounds better and is easier to say than the second, so it is widely accepted. I am sure you can find examples in other languages.

French classes ftw.

[woxingma]

For instance, why do Americans say that when the temperature is below freezing, they will sayd "It's below zero". Since they use the Fahrenheit temperature scale, freezing is 32F. It is because saying "It's below thirty two" takes too long.

Hmmm I've never heard anyone refer to it that way unless it really was below 0 degrees F. Maybe it's just cause I live in an area where it actually does get below zero quite often in winter.

[Tamsus]

"Zero" is two syllables. "O" is one. It's like a nickname or a shorthand. /shrug

[DomBomb1]

For instance, why do Americans say that when the temperature is below freezing, they will sayd "It's below zero". Since they use the Fahrenheit temperature scale, freezing is 32F. It is because saying "It's below thirty two" takes too long.[COLOR="red"]

We do? That's news to me. I've never heard anyone refer to freezing temps as "below zero". They say "below zero" when it's actually below zero Fahrenheit.

Edit: Same with the word "sub-zero". Never heard it to mean "freezing".