A naught/nought joke

Naught – nothing
Nought – zero

These words are contractions of “na, no wiht.”

“Wiht” was eventually spelled “whit,” which is still in the dictionary. It means “the least bit; jot; iota,” according to Webster’s.

“Naught” and “nought” are good examples of British English versus American English. They’re used much more often on the other side of the big pond.