Where does the asterisk go?

Subject: Where does the asterisk go?
From: Geoff Hart <Geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 12:50:23 -0400

Brian Doonan wondered <<When creating a word to
reference proprietary technology, where does the
asterisk go to reference the explanation--to the left or right?>>

Do you mean that you're adding a footnote to explain what
the word means? If so, the standard convention is to put the
footnote marker (here, an asterisk) on the right of the word.
But footnotes are generally a bad idea outside of historical
works or literary analyses; better by far to explain the term
directly in the text before you use it (e.g., "The act of
confusing readers is called 'bafflegabbing'. Word bafflegabs
readers through its online help system...") or include it in a
glossary... or both.

--Geoff Hart @8^{)} Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Perhaps there is something deep and profound behind all those sevens,
something just calling out for us to discover it. But I
suspect that it is only a pernicious, Pythagorean coincidence." George
Miller, "The Magical Number Seven" (1956)

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