It looks like this week's Frazz Comic Strip is doing a segment on the difference between ultimate and penultimate. You will have to press the forward button next to the calendar to see the current strip's take on those words.

Without looking it up, can you tell the difference?

 

James P. Cottingham
^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

I had it incorrect.

djj
The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23) - I need someone to lead me!

I believe penultimate and ultimate have nothing to do with each other. If my memory is correct, penultimate is the next-to-last "thing". If there are four acts in a play, act 3 is the penultimate act.

Ultimate is the best; the highest achievable. There is nothing better than the ultimate.  

As I recall from having had this discussion earlier in my life, penultimate comes from the Latin, paene (almost) + ultimus (last)...therefore almost (or next to) last.

Penultimate and ultimate are related in that they both derive from the Latin, ultimus: last, final, utmost.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
"People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

Your ultimate destination is the last destination.
Penultimate is the one before last, and antepenultimate is the one before that!

I've actually used antepenultimate in a speech (of course, I had to explain it).

Greg
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use. Kierkegaard

My mother's sister, Elaine, was the the third of five daughters. So that makes her my antepenultimate Auntie. (Also making my grandmother's sister, Holly, my antepenultimate Auntie's Auntie, right?)

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
"People may forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

I can't say I've ever used Penultimate but I did know its meaning. Thanks Santa for explaining the origin.

@traingamer, you sesquepedalian you!

**********************************************
What's most important is that you realise ...  There is no spoon.

Penultimate is the next to last writing instrument.


GS

******^*******
 I Hate ♥ Ambiguity.

Surely penultimate is the last writing instrument.  The next to last is the penpenultimate and the one before that the antepenpenultimate.

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

UPDATE: Today's strip moves from penultimate vs. ultimate to exonerate vs. stomach noises.

  

James P. Cottingham
^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

Quote:

Your ultimate destination is the last destination.

Maybe I've been using ultimate incorrectly. I have always used to mean the best. "My ultimate destination is a tropical paradise." It does not mean, at least to me, that it is my final destination. My final destination is something I'd rather not think about.  

Is the first warning in a "three strikes and you're out" situation, an "antepenultimatum" then?  

www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

Is the initial stake in the last but two poker hand the antepenultimate ante?

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.

Is it possible to have ultimata?

www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

Isn't that the last school you attended (your ultimate alma mater?)

It is time for pacifists to stand up and fight for their beliefs.