lauren (12/05/82)
Greetings. Just for the record, I've called the '!' symbol by the term "bang" for many years. I can't recall where I picked it up, but I know it was in common usage on an old SDS/XDS Sigma 7 I worked on many years ago. Regarding '*' and '#'. Some "old" telephony types (myself included) sometimes call these "star" and "diamond" respectively (at least when referring to their usage on the Touch-Tone telephone dial). To understand this, you must realize that the early model Touch-Tone sets had an actual five-pointed star where the '*' is now, and an actual diamond symbol where the '#' is now located. In fact, I believe that most AUTOVON phones still have a five pointed star in the '*' position, in addition to their fourth column of buttons labelled (from the top) FO, F, I, and P. --Lauren--