I've noticed that many people type "World War 11" instead of "World War II". Do you think it's because they have no idea how Roman numerals operate, or do they mean "World War Eleven"? What is your guess?

Probalby it is a mistyping of the Roman numerals. I don't think there's any adult around who's convinced that there have been more than two world wars.

Well, while on the subject of Roman II, I've come across some very odd things online. Among the strangest was several questions about "Elizabeth You" (sic) on a question-and-answer site (not "Ask FunTrivia", I would add).

Okay, I'll ask. Who was Elizabeth You supposed to be?
I agree that typing World War Eleven is a misunderstanding of typefaces and that capital i is one in Roman numerals, not the number one. I can see the logic of typing the numeral one twice since it was the second world war.

"Elizabeth You" was in that context none other than Elizabeth II - obviously "Elizabeth Two" misheard.

If you go way back in time, to the era of typewriters, the ones were often used in place of capital I's and so the user may be a very elderly typist prone to that usage. After all everyone should know we haven't passed Elizabeth the 2nd to get to an 11th edition. Seems they used to expect readers to know on the fly what was intended and never gave it an 11nd thought.

Are you sure about that, mehaul? The way I remember it, lower case Ls were used as ones....the typewriter I learned on did not have a one.

Same with me agony.

If the capital I wasn't working, we used the 1 instead. If the 1 was the key unavailable, yes, the lower case L was used. Either case I think goes to a reason for WW 11 being done by one of us old geezers (neither of you young fillies are in that group, right?)

From Wiki:

"Many older typewriters did not include a separate key for the numeral 1 or the exclamation point, and some even older ones also lacked the numeral zero. Typists who trained on these machines learned the habit of using the lowercase letter l ("ell") for the digit 1, and the uppercase O for the zero. Similarly, the exclamation point was created by combining an apostrophe and a period. These characters were omitted to simplify design and reduce manufacturing and maintenance costs; they were chosen specifically because they were "redundant" and could be recreated using other keys."

Older typewriters did not use the "1" to replace the uppercase "I", because there was no "1"!

An early model "QWERTY" keyboard layout showing the lack of a '1' key on the left end of the upper number row of keys.

Between the times of the introduction of the 'shift' action and the electric ball type printer head, the actual printing keys were forced on to the long lever arm. This was a flattened metal cap pressed onto the arm. Very often lever arms got crossed up and in doing so, caused one of the effected key heads to be punched off the lever arm. Depending on your machine, access to the internal parts might be user allowed and in many cases were only technician accessible. So recovery of the type key was no a sure thing.
Yes some models required the l for a 1 all the time but since the I was (and still is) a popular key to use, it was often involved in substitute schemes also. Even when the ball printers came out, the letters were soldered onto the balls and the frequently used letters often fell off. Almost every office I went to kept a replacement ball around for such failures. This afforded quick remedies but still needed the typist to know the shortcuts so a document could be finished before the repair was made.

Was this the page from Wikipedia you referred to?

The typewriters at school that I learned on had an exclamation point, but the one I used at home didn't - it was older, had been my older sister's. Just sold that one this last summer.

I never used a ball typewriter, they came along later.

Another determinant in alternate schemes was the font style of the letter set chosen by the manufacturer.

I've never seen Henry V111 for Henry VIII, so why World War 11? Completely inappropriate for Roman numerals to use 1 (or 2 or 3, etc.).

That made me smile. As a History and People editor I have very occasionally encountered that (and similar absurdities for other monarchs). It really does suggest to me that some people haven't the foggiest how Roman numerals are written or how they function. It's about on a par with Elizabeth You.

bloomsby - wise words from "Narwich" (I originate from next county South) - quite simple really II = two, 11 = eleven! However 1 + 1 ....................scream!

Many thanks from Narridge (as I like to spell it).

bloomsby..........My Grandfather on maternal side came from East Harling in Norfolk, so my East Anglian roots go back a way, thus I can PRONOUNCE "Narridge/Narwich" - just not sure how to spell it phonetically! Lol

So from Suffolk lad -

BTW Off topic........Grandfather was a "Peake" - wonder if Tim Peake (Astronaut) a distant relation?

3d is the only accepted way to write third in legal documents. 2d is used for second.

I recently spotted Edward V111 for King Edward VIII.