The bulk update request #10569 is pending approval.

change category roman_numeral (499) -> meta

Reason: I think it should be meta just like english_text or cyrillic_text as it's a specific kind of writing system (in this case a number system)

The way they are used is usually closer to a symbol like pi_(symbol) or infinity_symbol. Also tags like number and alphabet are not meta tags.

regsmutt said:
The way they are used is usually closer to a symbol like pi_(symbol) or infinity_symbol. Also tags like number and alphabet are not meta tags.

Quick, which one is a roman numeral:
DCXXI or VIXX

How were you able to distinguish them apart?

I would also like to preempt the counter argument that it's equivalent to number. The additional structure is what makes it different. If you see a 9, no matter if you attach other numbers to it, it still stays a number.

Letters being roman numerals depends on intent, which isn't always clear. Does "Mega Man X" contain a roman numeral? What about "Final Fantasy X-2"? It has been the case before that what people thought was a roman numeral turned out not to be. Or was originally conceived to be, but later changed to not be.

snpthecat said:
Quick, which one is a roman numeral:
DCXXI or VIXX

How were you able to distinguish them apart?

I would also like to preempt the counter argument that it's equivalent to number. The additional structure is what makes it different. If you see a 9, no matter if you attach other numbers to it, it still stays a number.

A fake or bullshitted roman numeral still looks like a roman numeral. The incorrectly ordered alphabet in post #4835759 still follows a format that makes it identifiable as an alphabet.
In answer to your question though, the second one feels wrong to me.

regsmutt said:
The way they are used is usually closer to a symbol like pi_(symbol) or infinity_symbol. Also tags like number and alphabet are not meta tags.

For the record this use could pretty much apply for any language scripts and their individual letters.

Roman numerals at the end of the day could just be considered another [language]_text or year in a roman font. And fonts, languages and years/dates are all meta.

should arabic numerals be a tag? or are they just too default at this point to bother?

• twenty-three
• 23
• XXIII
• 二十三
• [tally marks]
• π^2/(∑(1/x^2,1,∞))*4-1

There are a lot of ways to represent numbers. Saying "XXIII" (roman_numeral) is meta but "23" (number) and tally_marks are (currently) not is a bit arbitrary. I guess one notable difference is--like a foreign language--not everyone here can be expected to be able to read large numbers in Roman numerals.

crocogator said:
There are a lot of ways to represent numbers. Saying "XXIII" (roman_numeral) is meta but "23" (number) and tally_marks are (currently) not is a bit arbitrary. I guess one notable difference is--like a foreign language--not everyone here can be expected to be able to read large numbers in Roman numerals.

There's also that roman numerals are more ambiguous than most other methods. If you just see a "V", is that a roman numeral? Not to say others can't sometimes be ambiguous, but roman numerals are especially since they're made of common non-numeric letters. When they're part of names or titles, sometimes even people making the art don't know if it's intended to be a number or letter. Part of me thinks they shouldn't really be tagged because of this.

regsmutt said:
A fake or bullshitted roman numeral still looks like a roman numeral. The incorrectly ordered alphabet in post #4835759 still follows a format that makes it identifiable as an alphabet.
In answer to your question though, the second one feels wrong to me.

It feels wrong because it is. You start with highest first, then descending. V is 5, I is 1, X is 10.