3232: Countdown Standard

Countdown Standard

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Title text: Anyone who is caught counting 'three ... two ... one ... zero ... GO!' will be punished with a lifetime of eating only ISO standard food samples.

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Explanation

This is one of 66 incomplete explanations: This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

This comic makes fun of the fact that when people are counting to prepare for a synchronized action as a group, such as lifting something heavy, there are several ways involving rhythmic counting to get everybody to do the action at the same time. However, two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be taken on the beat of 'three', or on the beat after 'three'. This comic alleges that, if Randall gained control of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), he would standardize counting to go down from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero.

The fact that these are called "countdowns", yet two (the ones also considered most intrinsically troublesome) are counts that go up, is probably intentional, and cause for additional complaint by those who are as bothered by the inherent inconsistencies. Also, deprecated is a term applied to something that will be eliminated in the future, so you should fix things so as not to use it anymore; it's commonly used in coding, when procedures, libraries, etc. are planned to be retired.

ISO is an international organization that is responsible for standardizing many things, such as technology and safety standards to allow for smooth interoperability between countries, manufacturers, etc. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns, and the joke is that that would be Randall's first act if he were put in charge of it. Also there are no "ISO standard food samples" as mentioned in the title text, but one can imagine they would be unimaginably bland. However, there are NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as Peanut Butter. (see here) On the other hand, ISO 3103 describes a standardized method for brewing tea. Hacker lore describes a supposed "ANSI-standard pizza".

Transcript

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Discussion

Refer to all 4 Lethal Weapons movies for discussion. 45.138.52.240 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

^{[citation needed]} --Kynde (talk) 06:45, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Don't most people say "on three", "on one", or "on go" before starting the count anyway? And then delay the final (action) number a teensy bit? e.g. "On one. Ready? 3 2 1" This isn't that ambiguous, not that I would object to standardisation. Sameldacamel34 (talk) 23:13, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

It is appallingly common for me to hear the inconsistent and dissonant, "On the count of three…one, two, three, GO!" (This is problematic because it is "on the count of THREE" not "on the count of GO, the word after three". Or at least, that is what I understand those words to mean.) JohnHawkinson (talk) 02:09, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Just "on three" is the most common, I think. You say "On three. Ready? One, two THREE." Dogman15 (talk) 02:42, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it. -- Monty Python and the Holy Grail Jordan Brown (talk) 00:35, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

[Arthur:] Right. One, two, five!

[Galahad:] Three, sir.

[Arthur:] Three! [*throws it*]

...just to complicate matters. ;) 81.179.199.253 00:54, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Fantastic guys ;-) --Kynde (talk) 06:44, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Four... Two... One... One Half... One Quarter... One Eighth... One Sixteenth... One Thirty-second... One Sixty-Fourth... [go to infinity] GO! King Pando (talk) 03:47, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Just to make things even weirder: the movie industry counts 5, 4, 3, 2, go! 76.133.66.138 03:59, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

^{[citation needed]} --Kynde (talk) 06:44, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm sure people all over the world will follow this standard just as faithfully as they follow ISO 8601. -- 2a00:1a28:1410:5::10db (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Here for reference: 1179: ISO 8601. But there is at least one more with ISO reference: 2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral. So that is three comics referencing the ISO system directly (this one not in titel but in the text so no doubt that it would belong with the other two. But I'm not sure three is enough to create and ISO category? Could not on the spot find any others...? If someone can then we could make a category! --Kynde (talk) 06:43, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
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