lauren@vortex.UUCP (06/26/83)
Gee whiz. At least when discussing the symbols on the telephone "dial", I've always called "#" by the name "diamond" and "*" by the name "star". I've come across quite a number of Bell System people who still do the same. The reason dates back to some of the early touch-tone telephones (and the current generations of military AUTOVON telephone sets) which actually had/have a five-pointed star on the left-hand button of the bottom row, and a 4-sided diamond on the right-hand button of that row, instead of the more "conventional" symbols. --Lauren-- P.S. Of course, AUTOVON phones also have the fourth column of red buttons, marked FO (Flash Override), F (Flash), I (Interrupt), and P (Priority). --LW--
govern@houxf.UUCP (06/28/83)
I've generally heard (from the AUTOVON old-timers around here), that the 16-button VON sets had a "Flat-footed A" instead of the # key.