The ground floor

[AndiFlatland]

When you enter a building, unless you're Spiderman, you're on the ground floor. But this is the first floor you walk on, so why don't we call it the first floor? By that logic, the first floor is actually the second floor, and so on. I can't see that it makes any particular sense to call it the ground floor. Or am I just being ridiculously pedantic?!! Any ideas?

[squarebear]

This is how the Americans number their floors. Seems a lot more sensible to me too.

[AndiFlatland]

Hey, I didn't know that!
Just goes to show we Brits haven't got a complete monopoly on common sense!

[fredpuli47]

The French call the ground floor what translates as 'road level' and the next floor up the first, so they think like us Britons too.

[jno]

you'd only call a floor the first floor if you have a second floor. Many don't. So the ground-level floor has always been the ground floor. Then again if you've only got the one floor you just call it 'the floor'. So both ways make sense.

[mrsbob]

The ground floor is level with the ground outside.The first floor could just mean the 1st floor up rather than the first floor you stand on. The American way makes sense but so does ours.