why is 'S' often times used for the highest grade/tier/rank?

[Disco Battle]

how did S come to be used like this? just wondering

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Soroka:

Początkowo opublikowane przez cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

S= Satisfactory

Then what does E stand for? Egregious? Edible?

Excellent

[iza]

Wait in some cases 59% is considered a failure? No wonder Japanese students are insanely messed up around work. That is basically more than half which should be considered a success.

[slowdeath]

Początkowo opublikowane przez iza:

Wait in some cases 59% is considered a failure? No wonder Japanese students are insanely messed up around work. That is basically more than half which should be considered a success.

59% is failing in every school/class I've been in.

[Mikasa Ackerman]

Początkowo opublikowane przez Laguna:

S stands for "shuu" (秀), which is Japanese for "excellent".

It comes from the usual Japanese grading. Just like how we have A+, A, B, etc. They have their own system which is the same as ours except that instead of A+ they write "S".


Grade in Japanese (Kanji) English translation Corresponding percentage 4-scale university
shū (秀) Exemplary, excellent S (90–100%), rarely given
yū (優) Very good A (80–89%) A (80–100%)
ryō (良) Good B (70–79%) B (70–79%)
ka (可) Average, pass C (60–69%) C (60–69%)
nin (認)[a] Approved, acceptable D/F (50–59%), not common D/F (50–59%), not common
fuka (不可) Unacceptable, failed F (0–59% or 0–49%) F (0–59% or 0–49%)

thats interesting to know