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 65 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 reflects the common trope of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. 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'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.

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. However, this proposal would be no better than counting up, as some people may expect to act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, to have a 'zero' before the 'go!', leading to exactly the same problems.

"Deprecated" is a term applied to something that is no longer recommended for use, so you should fix things so as not to use it anymore. It is commonly used when a standard is replaced by a newer version or an alternative approach, but may still be in use in legacy applications. It is hard to imagine where this would be applicable in this case, since such countdowns tend to be short-lived affairs that would be unlikely to continue running for appreciable periods beyond the publication of the new standard.

The fact that these are called "countdowns", yet the ones being complained about are counts that go up, is probably intentional, and cause for additional irritation among those who are bothered by the inherent inconsistencies.

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, and so on. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns.

There are no "ISO standard food samples", as mentioned in the title text, but the implication is that they would be unimaginably bland because they would be 'lowest common denominator' illustrations of the base definition of each food. There are NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as peanut butter and "typical diet". ISO 3103 also describes a standardized method for brewing tea, and hacker lore describes a supposed "ANSI-standard pizza". Apparently eating these very bland foods is, in Randall's opinion, suitable punishment for doing “3, 2, 1, 0, Go!” for a countdown. This is a rather more robust level of enforcement than the ISO generally employs against violations of its standards.

Transcript

This is one of 43 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

[the comic shows three different ways of counting down, with red crosses next to the first 2 (One, Two, Three!, & One, Two, Three, GO!, with 'deprecated' in red ink next to it. There also is a } sign next to the first 2, saying them as 'too easy to mix up'. The last one (Three, Two, One, GO!) is marked with a green tick, with 'ISO standard, next to the tick.] ]Caption below the comic:] If I were in charge of ISO, the first thing I would do would be to standardize the way people count out loud before doing something in sync.

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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)

"On three... THREE!" 82.13.184.33 08:56, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

On three... two... one... zero... GO!! Logalex8369 (talk) 23:15, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

There are two different conventions to synchronize a start -- by reacting or by rythmically coordinating. And both are used: in official swimming championships by World Aquatics they train to start to a perfectly rythmic "bip.. bip.. beeep" while in track and field championships by World Athletics the start judge waits an arbitrary time before triggering the gun to which athletes react. 31.221.183.22 09:49, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

There's at least a third - go at a predetermined time. And a fourth - use a start gate to physically restrain the starters. 82.13.184.33 10:23, 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)

I wouldn't look to God for standards on counting - just look at the mess around what 'forty days and forty nights' means. 82.13.184.33 08:16, 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)

Yeah, you don't even get the reference material foods. You're starving. 47.141.37.161 16:36, 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)

https://raymonddefelitta.org/i-dig-film-leader/ Film leaders do generally stop at 2 or 3, but they don't really count "3, [2,] go!". There's a 'silent' count for the absent numbers before you reach the 'go!' point. They're left black to avoid fouling the start of the projection. 82.13.184.33 10:54, 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)

The home inspections series has only 3 comics, if that helps (I can't link it though, for some reason. It's name is Category:Home Inspections). GSLikesCats307 (talk) 13:36, 14 April 2026

If you write [[Category:Home Inspections]], it adds the current page to that category; if you want to link to the category, you have to add an extra colon at the beginning, so [[:Category:Home Inspections]] gives you Category:Home Inspections - IMSoP (talk) 15:12, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Thanks! GSLikesCats307 (talk) 19:48, 14 April 2026

All instances of "One... Two... Two and a half..." shall be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. 2600:1004:B0A0:E06:0:3E:A3FD:5401 14:37, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I personally use “And a 1, a 2, a 1 2 3 4” Logalex8369 (talk) 15:18, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

3, 2, 1, 0, -1, ... -∞ 45.178.3.59 15:26, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Dutch comedian Herman Finkers had a sketch where he said "We count to three. One, two <starts playing music>". In Dutch, "tot" means "up to and not including" while "tot en met" means "up to and including", wso wgen you say "I count to three" you should not include the three, even though most people will do so. IIVQ (talk) 18:01, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I wonder if 3-2-1-Go is so well understood because it's similar to rocket countdowns: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-Blastoff! Barmar (talk) 18:30, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

In between which of those numbers does the "Countdown hold" arrive? JohnHawkinson (talk) 18:36, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

3-2-1-Go isn't similar to rocket countdowns, it *IS* rocket - and other physics - countdowns. Jgharston (talk) 21:43, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Medical personnel still use 1-2-3 as the count-up when moving a patient from one platform to another (e.g. between a bed and gurney). They've standardized to lifting on 3. Barmar (talk) 18:30, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Hasn't he missed out three two ONE! Jgharston (talk) 21:41, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

(I started on writing this before the above comment was here, got edit-conflicted, but this could almost be a reply to that!) I start people in sports events. My count is "half a minute" [keeping it somewhat vague, just as a lead-up warning but trying to have that be 30 seconds to go on the "h" of "half"], then "fifiteen", "ten", before "five, four, three, two, one, go!". Traditionally, the competitors would be rocked back and forward slightly (back on 3 and 1, forward on 2 and that converted into a full starting small push on the zero-mark) by the person holding them up, which helps them get off as exactly on time as manually practical. Unfortunately, some hold their brakes on, for reasons of their own, and tend to release them on or about "one"... I tend to note which of these do this, and if their finishing time as advantageous by just one second (which is not unknown, but thankfully rare) then I might have a word with the organiser... leave them to worry about if this should affect the final placings. 81.179.199.253 21:45, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
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