On a question, there is a string of numbers. However, they are going too far to the left, and I see no reason for them to do so. Why are they doing this?

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It was interpreted as Markdown for an ordered list with one list item numbered 110101. I can replicate this below as such:

  1. List?
  2. Ha

Note that setting the start number like this isn't a typical Markdown feature.

If you really feel the need to format a post that way, this can be circumvented/prevented by1:

  • Inserting a backslash (\) between the number and the period
  • Adding something at the beginning of the line that will not be visibly displayed, e.g., $ $ (empty MathJax) or &shy; (soft hyphen)

372021. Here are three
$ $9001. lines in which
­90909. I avoid lists

1 Other imaginative ways of getting around it welcome in comments.

  • $\begingroup$ it is limited to numbers with 10 digits or less $\endgroup$
    – Fabich
    Jul 8 '16 at 13:27

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