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XXth

English translation: 20th

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:XXth
Selected answer:20th
Entered by: zabrowa

09:41 Mar 1, 2009
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase: XXth
Is this standard usage:

Thanks to all those who contributed to the success of the XXth edition of this journal.

I think "twentieth" or, better still, "20th" is ideal, somehow uncomfortable with "XXth"

What do you guys think?
Thanks!
zabrowa
Local time: 18:53
Does not look right
Explanation:
I don't think ordinal endings should ever be used with roman numerals. Whether there's a style rule on that I don't know, but it just doesn't look right. I'd say "20th edition" even if the actual number appearing on it is XX.
Selected response from:

Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:53
Grading comment
Thanks.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
3 +9Does not look right
Nesrin
3 +2XX
Peter Linton (X)
3 +120th is more common
Edith Kelly


  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
xxth
20th is more common


Explanation:
but you can also use XXth, especially in a more scientific context

Edith Kelly
Switzerland
Local time: 18:53
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in GermanGerman, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 26

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Arcoiris: 20th is correct, or even XX, but Never XXth, scientific or not
5 hrs
agree  Rachel Fell: see note below at Peter's answer
1 day 8 hrs
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6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +9
xxth
Does not look right


Explanation:
I don't think ordinal endings should ever be used with roman numerals. Whether there's a style rule on that I don't know, but it just doesn't look right. I'd say "20th edition" even if the actual number appearing on it is XX.

Nesrin
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:53
Native speaker of: Arabic
PRO pts in category: 54
Grading comment
Thanks.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jack Doughty
9 mins
agree  Sheila Wilson: It's quite out of place to use th with XX, IMO. "XX edition" is spoken as "twentieth edition" without the suffix
11 mins
agree  MurielP (X)
50 mins
agree  Gunilla Zedigh
1 hr
agree  Lalit Sati
1 hr
agree  Suzan Hamer: "20th" absolutely.
3 hrs
agree  cmwilliams (X)
3 hrs
agree  Arcoiris: 20th is correct
5 hrs
agree  Phong Le
18 hrs
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23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
xxth
XX


Explanation:
If the 20th edition of the journal really has XX on the cover, you could say "the success of edition XX of the journal"

Peter Linton (X)
Local time: 17:53
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  William [Bill] Gray: I think a cardinal number is preferable here to the ordinal, if the journal uses Roman numerals for it's edition numbering.
5 hrs
agree  Rachel Fell: I think the Roman numerals should be kept - there are quite a lot of instances, including scientific journals/conferences, of "XXth" even if it isn't wholly satsifactory http://www.iupac.org/web/act/Corfu_2002-07-07 http://physicsworld.com/cws/event/139
9 hrs
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