This one time, at band camp, Charlie Reiman said: > "#" has several names but most will be lost on non-techies. I'm not even > sure why we call it the pound symbol since we Americans usually abbreviate > pounds (the unit of weight) with the equally cryptic "lbs." Comes from the latin libra, which means, I don't know, something to do with weights or scales. Like the symbol for the astrological sign. > The many names of "#" that I know: > > The tic-tac-toe symbol > The hash > The pound > The octothorpe (don't ask) Just from the 8 points on it's exterior. Oddly, spelled with and without the trailing 'e' > The comment character > > All of these names are terrible. I like hash because then the omnipresent > "#!" becomes the hash-bang, or shebang for short. Hear, hear. Although I'm all for linguistic oddities that come from a mixed up history of compromises and disparate influences, myself. Kind of like linux, really. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Stephen Gran | "I have five dollars for each of you." | | steve@lobefin.net | -- Bernhard Goetz | | http://www.lobefin.net/~steve | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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