The underlying HTML <ol> element allows arbitrary values through the value tag. One of the original selling points of Markdown (at least in Gruber's post) is t

The underlying HTML <ol> element allows arbitrary values through the value tag. One of the original selling points of Markdown (at least in Gruber's post) is that is "seamlessly integrates" with HTML, in that you are in principle able to mix and match Markdown and HTML and get predictable HTML output. I think it was that aspect of Markdown that let it be so... sloppy? That aspect of Markdown seems to have fallen away with the rise of Markdown extensions and standards.