Rare Usa-China w.
this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2026
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Norway should be red.
Sources:
I think most continental european countries call the first floor the first floor, right? i've mostly seen the completely ridiculous UK system in former british colonies in asia (same contries that also drive on the wrong side of the road usually, and use creepy big electrical plugs) and the normal system in continental europe and china (where people also drive normally)
every time you cross the border from mainland china to hong kong it's like entering a freaky mirror universe. the first floor is upstairs! look to the right before crossing the road! maybe "west" means "south" and "good weather" means pouring rain, why not?
I can only speak for myself, but I know Denmark uses stueetage (Living room floor) for the ground floor and the floor above that is the 1st floor, every place I've been to in Germany that I can think of had Erdgeschoss (Literally ground floor) or Parterre (I dont actually know what that means) and the floor above that is Ersteschoss or Ersteetage (First floor), and Italians use "Piano terra" (Ground floor) and then "Primo piano" (First floor) as far as I know. But i am no expert and never paid it much mind before so I could be wrong.
i was just thinking of elevator buttons actually (1, 2, 3 vs G/E, 2, 3 vs G, 1, 2), I don't know what words are much used in daily conversation
Oh you can't use elevator buttons for anything. I've seen S (Stue/Ground floor), B (Basement), and P (Parking) on one of those.
Edit:Misremembered, fixed now
Yeah wtf, Finland as well. 1 is always ground floor, at least in every single multi-story house I've ever gone inside.
I've heard Norwegians use ground floor/bakkeplan, although that word seems weird to me tbh... Hill floor? Could just be them acclimatising to foreign customs though, I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I needed to talk about specific floors in Norway.
Edit:This is not to dispute your claim at all. If you say Norwegians mostly/entirely use one system at home that's likely correct. I'm just relaying my experience with Norwegian students living abroad.
From the linked SNL article:
And if you look at NAOB you'll find some quotes of people using bakkeplan to mean ground floor/level. The thing is that the floor above bakkeplan is always 2. etasje, elevator buttons always use "1" for 1. etasje / bakkeplan, and it is not at all weird or confusing to refer to bakkeplan as 1. etasje. In my own subjective experience, 1. etasje is a more commonly used term than bakkeplan.
So it's basically like American English: it's perhaps rarer to call it "ground floor/level", but not at all unheard of. I wouldn't bat an eye at it. The real hallmark of the British system is that the floor above is the "first floor". That's what feels weird to do.
As for "bakke": in Norwegian it can mean both "hill" and "ground".