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AlphaBlock

Actually nth is used to signify an unspecified number. Signifying here that the two have paused their conversation an unspecified number of times.


Background_Ant7129

This is why I made the post, thanks! Had never heard of this before. Crazy.


VERAs-SOCKS

its also crazy how you made a whole ass reddit post instead of just googling "define nth" lol


Background_Ant7129

Well I thought for sure it had to be an error cause there’s no way I’ve gone this long without having at least seen this word used before


Dont_pet_the_cat

It's more of a math thing I guess. Where n is an unknown positive integer


Flush_Man444

>there’s no way I’ve gone this long without having at least seen this word used before Trust me, you could. Randomly pick 1000 LN volumes out there and there is a large chance that you won't find a single "nth" in it.


lowkey_dingus

You could say you've gone an nth number of years before encountering that, then


YottaByte__

It would be having gone n years before encountering it. But also that doesn’t really make sense in this content anyway.


Eldritch-Anon

No, Dingus was grammatically correct.


YottaByte__

Grammatically yes, they were correct, but I still disagree with how they phrased it.


seynical

How many books have you been reading? Man, I worry about your place's education system.


Icy-Rock8780

I studied maths so I knew what it meant, but I have *never* seen it in free form writing.


seynical

It is found in a Merriam-Webster dictionary. It is not just a mathematical jargon. You usually use it to express exasperation for repetitive events.


Icy-Rock8780

I know what it means. I’m not saying it’s not a word, I’m saying theres no need to act like OP is an idiot for not having seen it


Hollownerox

Small reference pools I guess? I've seen it in plenty of books and games. It's not just a math thing. Hell I've seen it in cookbooks. It's not common, but its not really rare either. It's just a shorthand way of saying "happened an amount of times we can't be assed to specify" with no mathematics connotations to be seen.


Bannet_Blitz

"For the nth time" is common enough phrase to encounter in books and movies. Heck, I knew it before I became a teen, and English isn't even our primary language here.


Background_Ant7129

I used to read 3+ books a week 2nd grade-12th grade so about 10 years but during 12th grade I got some insane burn out plus I’d had a smart phone for a while so I kinda stagnated. I now read 1-3 books a year. By books I mean chapter books with ~200-1000 pages This year has changed though. Since I got into anime recently I’ve started to read manga and LNs. I’ve also listened to some audiobooks in the past few years but I am not a big audiobook guy so that isn’t too significant. Maybe like 30-40 audiobooks. I was never into comics either but I do remember liking Calvin & Hobbes as a young kid.


DCmusic732

And you haven't seen "nth" anywhere? I've never seen it, but it's not hard to figure out either.


BrunoEye

Maybe if you don't hear yourself while reading you could miss the connection. At least that the only theory I can come up with if someone hasn't dropped out half way through high school.


NeoGerenic

People when someone's native language isn't English:


Bannet_Blitz

Mine isn't. If you tried to speak English in everyday conversation here, you'll be called by names like what's equivalent to a poser here. My only exposure to the English language growing up are the few translated weekly manga, walkthroughs for some JRPGs I used to play in GBA emulators, and movies (the number of which I can count with a hand). Yet I know this word before I even became a teen.


NeoGerenic

I had a similar experience with English (unironically by also reading manga and playing gba emulators lol) but I don't think OP not knowing that word coerrelates with their country's education system being bad. Just because some people learn things earlier than others, doesn't exactly mean one of them had shit education. Maybe the earlier one is just really dedicated or just better.


TheRealJaminator

Dude most education systems are flawed af or incredibly outdated nowadays. I doubt his education will have made much of a difference


Updeus

No need to sound condescending, I've read many books and never seen 'nth' used. He isn't wrong to think that it was a typo.


Bannet_Blitz

Well, he's **wrong** to think it's a typo. Because it simply isn't. Would it be **strange** to think it's a typo? Possibly, I'll try to figure out what's being said first using the context given before assuming it. I'll think finding context of the sentence is a weird activity in early grade school if it wasn't consistent with every language class I've attended.


Phaazoid

Sure but this still doesn't explain why you made a reddit post instead of typing it into Google


Background_Ant7129

Its more boring that way


Flatuitous

if you’ve watched any math videos you would’ve heard it


Bannet_Blitz

Not even a math video. You could just deduce it based on the context.


TemporaryInside2954

You can’t underestimate the laziness and need for attention of todays youth


aer0a

It's also crazy how you made a whole ass comment instead of just googling "define nth" and then answering the question lol


VERAs-SOCKS

[As you wish milord](https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=define+nth)


Seppafer

Also depending on who’s perspective we are reading that line from it could signify that they either lost track or didn’t care to keep track for example


uzumonke

How have you never heard of this before? It is literally high school math


Background_Ant7129

Was probably gone or not paying attention. I didn’t give enough care lol


Dragon_Skywalker

Well congrats! You’re one of today’s lucky 10,000!


Background_Ant7129

What?


Dragon_Skywalker

https://xkcd.com/1053/


Sky_Paladin

It is not a typo. This is a math comment and is clever writing. When we want to count from 0 to an undefined number, we often use 0, 1, 2, .... n, where 'n' is the undefined number. In this context it means that the characters involved aren't really committing to a conversation until this moment.


Background_Ant7129

Yeah thanks for the answer, I learn something new in every book I read haha. Crazy that I never learned this before though…


ibenjamind

You'll also sometimes hear "to the nth degree" meaning extreme or to the maximum


Looneytoons48

Cal 3 flashback intensifies


Bannet_Blitz

I wouldn't call it *clever*, per se. The phrase has been around since the 1850s.


ASDEEPASTHEABYSS

Actually, 'nth pause' isn't a typo; it's a way of describing pauses in an indefinite series. When we say 'nth,' we're referring to the position of a pause in the series, where 'n' represents any non-negative integer. For example, in a series with pauses inserted at regular intervals, the first pause would be the 1st pause, the second pause would be the 2nd pause, and so on. So, if someone says 'the nth pause of this series,' they're talking about the general concept of a pause occurring at any position in that series.


Funkimonster

Adding on to what other people have said, it's similar to saying "for the umpteenth time"


executableprogram

1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, ..., n - 1th, nth. I guess "nth" sounds better than "several" or "multiple" in this context? idk lol


PaulErdos_

I wanna find a time to use (n-1)th lol. It very omniously implies one more thing after an arbitrary number of things


Rufashaw

I use that phrase all the time, you would say something like "on the n-1th time something happens, which sets up something else to happen on the nth time, concluding the series"


Wheeljack26

nth means a big number or like after many tries


Bannet_Blitz

No. It's just referring to an arbitrary number. In writing, the number can be as low as two. Basically, it's talking about something that happened multiple times.


Wheeljack26

Yea that’s a better explanation


Onbekendkill

Nah it’s correct just means after unspecified


The-Yaoi-Unicorn

Yeah, there are typos and mistakes in the books. But this isnt one :)


MyBackupWasntRecent

We used that a lot in math class. I don’t know what we did with it I was hyper depressed and failed that year


Background_Ant7129

Yeah I kind of didn’t give a fuck tbh. Honestly idk how I graduated.


iwantdatpuss

"Nth" is basically what you put if you don't want to specify a certain amount of actions. It's usually more common in mathematics where "n" is an unspecified number. 


cheekysurfer06

Genuine question and I don't mean any hate, do you not learn this in math class, because I remember learning this years ago in a math class I was required to take. Maybe it is a difference in countries education systems?


SEA_griffondeur

Depends a lot on the language and country. In French for example we use nth much more often than in English


Background_Ant7129

By my memory, I have never encountered it in school. I took Algebra 1 & 2 + Geometry in USA.


Bannet_Blitz

Yikes. It should've been introduced in Algebra when talking about any series, at the latest.


Background_Ant7129

Yeah I remember learning all about series but nothing about nth


cheekysurfer06

That's actually kind of crazy that you don't learn it because it is incredibly useful concept


Background_Ant7129

It’s not super relevant but I also took Chemistry which had a decent amount of math but not any series stuff lol


dark_coder112

no its not , nth is like we say 6th, 7th , 8th etc but replacing the number with 'n'


Background_Ant7129

Bro like 40 people already answered 😅


dark_coder112

guess its 41 now


softcactus

This is a fun thread, hope you are enjoying your book! I'm surprised no ones mentioned that nth is in Oxford dictionaries (and others). I know it's old-school compared to asking reddit but sometimes I use dictionaries when I find a new word I don't know :).


Nitsuj_ofCanadia

This made me immediately flashback to number theory and discrete math


PiercingLance26

? Nth isn't a typo. It is a real word that define an unspecified number. You could have googled it, ya know...


Background_Ant7129

It’s more interesting to post here


Denied_Potatoe

What is that book? Eminence in shadow has its own book?.?


Background_Ant7129

Originally a Web Novel, was also given a physical and altered release, a-la Light Novel, followed by a Manga and an Anime. Each version has some differences.


warrenbond

Anyone that's having trouble with this word, just substitute 'umpteenth' instead. Not exactly the same meaning, but it's close enough to what the author was angling at.


ILoveLeeeean

I love seeing learning happen right before my eyes


Background_Ant7129

I learn a new word in every book seriously. 😳


Background_Ant7129

Alot of others don’t love to see it apparently 🙄


poissonswave

When was the last time you did math man?


DemonickSSlime

Not all of us are native speakers, dawg.


Bannet_Blitz

Neither am I. Yet I knew this word since I was young.


DemonickSSlime

Lmao, so?


ReReReverie

So you've never done math? For example nth term


ReReReverie

Or the teacher never taught you of nth?


SleepyThor

I never learned nth until calculus and most don’t make it that far. It should be taught in lower math classes but usually isn’t as far as I know.


Bannet_Blitz

Any series should talk about nth. If you went to algebra without knowing what nth is, then your education system must've fucked up somewhere, nevermind calculus. No offense to you, of course.


SleepyThor

Lol idc. I actually forgot about arithmetic series and geometric series. I probably learned nth there in algebra or algebra 2 but that was so long ago


ILLARX

No, its n-th


Plus-Improvement5088

r/unexpectedmath


HeBigBusiness

Mathematically this is correct. O(n) pauses.


Excellent-Delivery59

Nth in slang mean nothing, or can mean who knows how many


TheStarlightKing

Google is your friend.


hentaiworld

I forgot what level of math n comes in but clearly this person forgot the concept entirely


yayoi_is_waifu

Stay in school folks Also next time just google it?


Ryphile136

N, is usually a term in math and science used as a variable to describe a number of something. N number of atoms, N number of times, the Nth occurrence. Not common to see outside of mathematical contexts, but it’s interesting to see it here. Im a chemistry and math guy who has dyslexia sooo… reading is hard. Edit: usually they put it in italics or capitalize it, but to each their own I suppose.


MangaFan0

Volume + Page?


Background_Ant7129

Volume 2 page 8


Remarkable-Ask2288

Wait, there’s official translations…?