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Subject:Re: the pound sign From:Pat Madea <madea -at- MMSI -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 9 Aug 1995 14:14:59 MST
>On Wed, 9 Aug 1995, Leslie Gasser EXP 8/26/95 wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
>The sign you have typed there is not a pound sign. The pound sign looks
>like a fancy handwritten capital "L", and is used as the symbol for British
>currency, and Australian currency before 1966 (sorry it doesn't work
>on my keyboard).
>
>I know "#" as the "hash" sign.
>
>James Perkins
The thread of what to call the # symbol has been followed before at
great length. The contenders were octothorp, pound sign, hash or hash
sign, and number sign. There was also thatch and cross-hatch. There
was no consensus. Go figure.....
