I have a project that requires storing a latest file, previous file and 'one before the previous' file. Each will go in its own folder named: current, previous and {one before previous}. What do I call that third folder?
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1Possible duplicate of How to say 'before previous' in one word?– John CliffordApr 12, 2016 at 8:04
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Thanks. I had seen this, however there isn't a name (such as September) which describes the order here.– user1752971Apr 12, 2016 at 8:29
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The answers in the possible duplicates english.stackexchange.com/questions/181869/… and english.stackexchange.com/questions/37148/… aren't good for this question.– ab2Apr 12, 2016 at 19:29
2 Answers
It's actually antepenultimate but this word is so uncommon that most people won't know what you mean. People tend to say something like "this one, the previous one, and the one before that".
I would be delighted if more people used antepenultimate but I have been on the losing side of many linguistic battles and am not optimistic on this one.
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What a great word. In conversation I would use "the one before". It seems a bit clumsy in written word though. Apr 12, 2016 at 8:41
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1And, conveniently, antepenultimate, penultimate, and ultimate sort that way alphabetically - great for folks whose OCD extends to folder and directory structures!– Charl EApr 12, 2016 at 9:46
This is a well established procedure in computer science, and the files are called grandfather, father and son files.
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Thanks. This implys some ancestral relationship that isn't present in this application, though. Apr 12, 2016 at 8:47
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"Antepenultimate" can be used when you're referring to versions of files. I don't think you'd use "father/son" terminology for versioning?– TrevorDApr 12, 2016 at 12:07