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If a list is ordered 'first', 'next' would you finish with 'last' or 'lastly'? I'm really interested to get both a UK and US take on this please. (Finally is not an option here, as it's for a poem with no room for the extra syllable.)

Roo
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    You are putting first, next and last in a poem? Sounds kind of uncreative to my ears unless it is something like a nonsense rhyme. – Lambie Dec 13 '23 at 14:22
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    I'd assume first would go with last and firstly with lastly, but this is just an opinion. I guess you'd have to analyse a corpus of texts to be sure what happens in the real world. – Stuart F Dec 13 '23 at 14:27
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    ...Although according to this question Eric Partridge preferred "first, secondly" to "firstly, secondly", while the New Oxford American Dictionary says the opposite. Here's another question on the same matter. I can't see any specifically on firstly and lastly though. – Stuart F Dec 13 '23 at 14:30
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    No room for two syllables is more than enough reason for poems, lyrics, and road signs like Slow. – Yosef Baskin Dec 13 '23 at 15:37
  • Apparently, 'nextly' is also available. // 'Last' connotes a global finality, not just a concluding remark ... but 'lastly' doesn't match 'first' too well: this is really open to opinion. – Edwin Ashworth Dec 13 '23 at 15:47
  • Thanks for the answers. I've also failed to find anything definitive on this. To my ears, 'first, next, last' seems a neater set, so I'll go with that. – Roo Dec 14 '23 at 10:21

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