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Fact check: And the letter X just happens to correspond to an ASCII table value of 88

Checked on February 21, 2025

1. Summary of the results

The statement about the letter X corresponding to ASCII value 88 is definitively confirmed by multiple reliable sources [1] [2]. This is part of the standardized ASCII character encoding system, where each character is assigned a unique decimal value, and capital "X" is indeed positioned at value 88 in the ASCII table [1].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original statement lacks several important pieces of context about ASCII:

  • ASCII is a standardized character encoding system that uses numeric values to represent characters [3]
  • The complete ASCII table includes values ranging from 0 to 255 [3]
  • This is part of a larger system where every character has a unique decimal value assigned to it, not just the letter X [1]

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

While the statement itself is factually correct, its phrasing ("just happens to") implies a coincidental nature that could be misleading:

  • The ASCII value assignments are not random or coincidental but part of a deliberately designed encoding standard [3]
  • The statement in isolation might suggest something remarkable about the number 88, when in fact it's simply one value in a systematic character encoding table [4]
  • The tone suggests a casual observation, whereas this is actually part of a formal, standardized system used in computing and telecommunications [3]

The original statement would benefit from being presented as a straightforward technical fact rather than implying any coincidental or mysterious connection between the letter X and the number 88.

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