Alliance Selection Terminology

[Dragonking]

You are correct. The official terminology is captain then 1st pick then 2nd pick. People will often will use 1st pick, 2 pick, 3rd pick meaning the 1st robot, 2nd robot, 3 robot.
This may get confusing at worlds where there will also be 3 picks (backup robots)

[Justin Montois]

We joke about this all the time. We use 2nd pick and 3rd pick interchangeably knowing full well it's not correct.

[DampRobot]

I just say alliance captain, first pick, third pick. Saves confusion.

[Pi3th0n]

Wow, I definitely read that earlier today and didn't realize at the time that the 3rd robot wasn't the 3rd pick...

Hm... maybe it's similar to this year's game's use of the word "assist"

1-assist ball (no assisting actually happened)
2-assist ball (It's more like assist -> score)
3-assist ball (more like the first 2 bots assisted the third one in scoring)

likewise:
1st pick (Alliance captain - no picking actually happened)
2nd pick (Alliance captain -> picks a partner)
3rd pick (The two teams on the field collaborate to pick the third team to invite)

[Basel A]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

I just say alliance captain, first pick, third pick. Saves confusion.

I usually do this too. It might sound dumb, but it does eliminate all ambiguity.

[Abhishek R]

I say "first pick," or the second robot, "second pick," or the third robot.