Re: the pound sign

[Rick Lippincott <rjl -at- BOSTECH -dot- COM>]

Leslie Gasser asked:

>Could any of you tell me what the actual name of the
>pound sign (#) is?  I thought it was octothorp (sp?),
>but I haven't been able to find it in the dictionary
>or in any of my reference books.

Newton's Telecom Dictionary (7th Edition) defines "octathorp" as:

"The character on the bottom right of your touchtone keyboard,
which is also typically above the 3 on your computer keyboard.
It's commonly called the pound sign, but it's also called the
number sign, the crosshatch sign, the tic-tack-toe sign, the
enter key, the octothorpe (also spelled octathorp) and the hash."

He rambles on a bit more about it's function in telephony, but
that's the meat of it.  Looks like it's your choice on spelling.

I have no idea where "pound sign" originates from. The 1973
Government Printing Office Style Guide indicates that "#" is
used for "number." For pounds of weight, the symbol is "lb" with
a small horizontal bar attaching the tops of the letters (or is
that an ink blob on the page? I'm not certain...), and the symbol
for "Pounds, Sterling" is as James Perkins noted a stylized "L"
with a horizontal line through it.

Rick Lippincott
Boston Technology
Wakefield, MA
rjl -at- bostech -dot- com