so s-rank, so s-rank, damn, your ken's so s-rank

March 17, 2016 12:01 AM

Where did "S" as the grade above "A" come from as a phenomenon? I am 99% sure that it began with video games (though I've seen it used in show seating assignments in Japan), but where?
posted by DoctorFedora to Writing & Language (7 answers total)

I think it came from Japanese academic grading by way of Japanese video games. I first remember seeing it in Sega's 1999 title Crazy Taxi, for example, where you could earn a "Class-S" license over a Class-A, B, etc.

Edit: This StackExchange post provides some more context.
posted by Rhaomi at 12:30 AM on March 17, 2016

Response by poster: I've actually just come across speculation that it may have come from the UK, due to the S-levels (scholarship level) coming after the A-levels (advanced level). Hmmm.
posted by DoctorFedora at 12:34 AM on March 17, 2016

Best answer: Possibly related page about the (now superseded - but current till 2001) "S-Level". Back in the era of early British computer games there would have been a local audience who understood the notion of "S - cholarship" being where you go to once you have wished to go beyond "A - dvanced".
posted by rongorongo at 3:50 AM on March 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: The consensus from the Japanese equivalents to AskMe is that it's from 'special.'

And this page in Japanese actually provides a good timeline of usage: the best theater seats started being designated as 'tokubetsu' (special) in the 1900s, and high-grade sake also started being called 'tokubetsu' in the 1940s. In the 1960s "Special" or "S" started being used in place of 'tokubetsu,' and in the 1980s this started making its way into manga and racing.
posted by Jeanne at 4:52 AM on March 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

Best answer: ('Tokubetsu' wasn't necessarily used for those first usages -- it looks like related words like 'tokutou' were more common for 'first-class' in the first half of the century -- but they all used the same 特 kanji to mean 'special.' This is nitpicky but I'd rather be pedantic about my own mistakes than wait for other people to be.)
posted by Jeanne at 4:59 AM on March 17, 2016 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: This is literally the ideal situation for pedanticism
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:42 AM on March 17, 2016

Response by poster: Also, that timeline link is amazing!
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:45 AM on March 17, 2016