zeus (04/15/83)
Does anyone know any good names for those random top-of-the-keyboard
characters?
I am interested in knowing the various aliases by which the following
characters are known throughout the net. If you know of any original
(or, god forbid, even the "official") names of these characters, please
reply to me by mail. If there is sufficient interest, I could post
the results to the net [I rather doubt that anyone cares, however.
Except me. (...they laughed at Newton...)]
(char) (names I have alread heard, primary name in caps)
! -- excl, BANG, shriek, wow, factorial
@ -- ATSIGN, vortex
# -- NUMBER, crunch, mesh, hex, hash, grid, sharp, pig-pen
$ -- DOLLAR-SIGN
% -- PERCENT, mod
^ -- circumflex, up-arrow, carat, HAT
& -- AMPERSAND, and, address
* -- asterisk, splat, STAR
- -- hyphen, MINUS, dash
~ -- TILDE, squiggle, wiggle, twiddle
` -- grave, back-tick
<
> -- angle brackets, brokets, LESS-THAN/GREATER-THAN
/ -- virgule, SLASH, stroke
\ -- BACKSLASH
| -- VERTICAL-BAR, v-bar, or, pipe
Thanks,
Luke Jones
ucbvax!unmvax!nmtvax!zeusbarmar (04/17/83)
Add this one to the list of questions that are asked every six months on the net. There are some hosts that maintain archives of old netnews (I don't know which, ask a local wizard), so why don't you try to get hold of them. Barry Margolin genrad!mit-eddie!barmar [UUCP] barmar@mit-multics [ARPA]
rcj (04/20/83)
It is called a pound sign, It is called a number sign, It is called a sharp, And some guys I know at Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ, decided that this was ridiculous, so they christened it the octotharp. Anyone knowing the origin of the "tharp" portion of octotharp please reply to me at the address below, I am curious. -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3814 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ floyd sb1 mhuxv ]!burl!rcj
ray (04/26/83)
# is NOT pounds weight, it IS pounds sterling. This is the character replaced by a pound sterling symbol in UK character sets, and is used to represent sterling if no sterling symbol is available.
marcum@fortune.UUCP (05/26/83)
I've always called it "splat"....
jwp@sdchema.UUCP (06/05/83)
PBS is running a series on computers that was made in England. In the
show I saw, '#' was referred to as "hash". I find that a fitting name
and intend to use it from now on.
John Pierce, Chemistry, UC San Diego
{ucbvax, philabs}!sdcsvax!sdchema!jwprcj@burl.UUCP (06/13/83)
Here are mine, whether anyone is interested or not:
! bang
@ at
# octothorpe (tharp?)
$ dollar
% percent
^ up-arrow
& ampersand
* asterisk (or splat)
( left-paren
) right-paren
_ underscore
- dash
= equals
+ plus
~ squiggle (NEVER called a tilda!!)
` back-quote (grave-accent only when talking to class people)
{ open-curly-brace (anyone got a shorter name for this one?)
} close-curly-brace ditto
[ open-square-bracket ditto
] close-square-bracket ditto
: colon
; semi-colon
' quote (single-quote if i am feeling explicit)
" double-quote
\ back-slash
| pipe
/ slash
? question-mark (I like "huh", though, think I'll use that instead)
. dot (NEVER period)
, comma
> right-angle-bracket (Shorter name, anyone?)
< left " " " " "
I know it is strange that I use "left" and "right" for () and <>
and "open" and "close" for {} and []; but that's the way it is.
--
The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3814 (Cornet 291)
alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ floyd sb1 mhuxv ]!burl!rcjmark@umcp-cs.UUCP (06/14/83)
This little thing -->^<-- is no WAY called an "up arrow". It's nothing but a hat. Why use three syllables when one will do? -- Mark Weiser
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (06/15/83)
The '^' is not a hat, nor an up-arrow. A friend of mine staunchly insists that it's a "Sir Cornflakes". :-) (rot -90) Dave Sherman Toronto
tag@tty3b.UUCP (06/16/83)
I have a clipping from the Teletype News several years back which reads
IT'S AN "OCTOTHORP"
The button on the lower right-hand side of the newer varieties of
Touch-Tone(r) telephones finally has a name. Bell Lab Scientists
dubbed it "octothorp" after the eight points at the ends of the
symbol. Looking something like a tic-tac-toe board, it actually
is the symbol for "number" but until recently had no name. Now
all twelve Touch-Tone keys have names: 0 through 9, asterisk, and
the new word added to the language - "octothorp."
I have been using the name "octothorp" ever since, and almost always
have to explain what I mean, even to Bell Labs people.
- Tom Gloger, Teletype Corporation, (we13|ihnp4)!otuxa!tty3b!tagpetec@umcp-cs.UUCP (06/17/83)
A '*' should be called a 'star'. Saying 'asterisk' is a waste of syllables and will eventually cause you to trip over your tongue in some sentence.
joe@cvl.UUCP (06/17/83)
Look, everyone knows that '*' is the Nathan Hale operator. Because he had but one asterisk. (hee hee)
whm@arizona.UUCP (06/18/83)
Back in December, Mark Horton posted a compiled list of names for
the various characters. Here it is:
---
From ...!cbosgd!mark Thu Dec 9 11:38:46 1982
Subject: Re: More Terminal Mumps
Newsgroups: net.misc
I am enclosing my complete list. Additions are invited.
! ball-bat, bang, shriek, excl, exclamation point, smash, cuss
" Quote, double quote, dirk
# sharp, pound, Number sign, tictactoe, scratchmark, Octothorp
(the official Bell System name for the # on your Touch-Tone dial)
$ Currency symbol, Buck, Dollar, Dollar Sign,String (from BASIC),
escape (from TOPS-10 where the real escape echos as $).
% Percent
& Ampersand, and, amper
' Apostrophe, prime, tick, quote, single quote, irk
() open/close, parenthesis, paren/thesis, ears, so/already
* star, asterisk, splat, gear. (what does TPC call this on your phone?)
+ Plus
, Comma
- Dash, Hyphen, Minus
. Dot, Period, Point, Decimal, Radix point.
/ Virgule, Slash, Stroke, Slant, Diagonal
: Colon
; Semicolon, Semi
<> angle brackets, brokets, less than/greater than, crunch/zap, /angle,
suck/blow
= Equal sign, equals
? Question mark, Ques
@ At sign, At, Each, At each
[] brackets, square brackets, bra/ket
\ Backslash, Backslant, Reversed virgules, escape (from Unix systems
where things are quoted ("escaped") with \.
^ Circumflex, Hat, Up arrow (from old ASCII)
_ Underscore, underline, underbar, under, score, backarrow (old ASCII)
` Grave accent, backquote, backprime, blugle, birk
{} brace, curly, curly brace, curly bracket
| Vertical bar, pipe, or
~ squiggle, tilde, wiggle, Swung dash (that's what your friendly
lexicographer calls it)
---chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (06/19/83)
I know someone who called '*' a "dingle". Bizarre.
- Chris
--
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!chris
CSNet: chris@umcp-cs
ARPA: chris.umcp-cs@UDel-Relayschnitzl@hplabsb.UUCP (06/20/83)
( - Parenta
) - Unparenta
[ - Square
] - Unsquare
{ - Curly
} - Uncurly
And another vote for
$ - Ding
Ray Schnitzler, HP Labsleichter@yale-com.UUCP (06/20/83)
If "#" is an octothorp, perhaps "=" should be a quadrathorp, and "*" a hexa- thorp. There are many duothorps... -- Jerry decvax!yale-comix!leichter leichter@yale with help from BJ Herbison.
rh@mit-eddi.UUCP (Randy Haskins) (06/24/83)
I have a few names of my own: * star ( open ) close < less > greater - dash | bar (as in: "UnderdogPOPs archDASHvillian was named Simon|Siniter) Also, vaguely related: In French, they teach you that final consonnants OPENspHUHCLOSE are not OPENusuallyCLOSE pronounced unless they are of the group C,R,F,L, or the consonnants (sic) in 'careful.' I immediately decided that the rule was, "Do not pronounce, except in case of NEWLINE <crlf>." Safire-ly yours, Randy
rh@mit-eddi.UUCP (Randy Haskins) (06/24/83)
I worked at Telecredit (electronic check and plastic card approval. Really interesting stuff.) a few years ago, and they called the '#' on their phones 'flash.' (The '*' was, of course, star.) It was used for certain phone operations, sort of like an escape sequence. --Randy rh@Mit-eddie