An American would be more likely to say "A number 1." Cf. Mrs. Stowe, in "Dred," chapter 23: "An A No. 1 cook, and no mistake."

The figures 1½, 1¾, 2, 2½, and 3 are also used with A, and denote a descending scale of seaworthiness.

A 1, popular slang, meaning first-rate, excellent, is borrowed from the ratings used in Lloyd's Register of Shipping. The higher classes of vessels are styled A, and the figure 1 following the class letter shows that the equipment is complete and efficient. Hence "I am A 1" means "I'm all right," and to say of another that "he is A 1" is to pay one of the highest compliments in the slang répertoire. Thus, Shirley Brooks in "The Guardian Knot" makes one of his characters say, "She is A 1; in fact, the aye-wunnest girl I ever saw." Curiously enough, the French have a similar commendatory expression, "he is marked with an A" ("C'est un homme marqué à l'A"), the money coined in Paris being formerly stamped with an A.