This is part of The Pile, a partial archive of some open source mailing lists and newsgroups.
Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 15:58:22 -0800 To: svlug@lists.svlug.org Subject: Re: [svlug] pound bang splat From: Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> begin Dan Beimborn quotation: > # = "pound" Not if you aspire to communicate with the rest of the English-speaking world. The term "pound" already refers to a currency symbol. "Hash" lacks that problem, and is what I use. "Octothorpe" was the winner of a naming competition for the "hash" symbol, in William Safire's language column a number of years ago. That has resulted in the term achieving its current, approximately zero percent mindshare, and still rising. === Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 16:15:31 -0800 To: Don Marti <dmarti@zgp.org> Cc: svlug@svlug.org Subject: Re: [svlug] how to pronounce ~ From: Chris Waters <xtifr@dsp.net> On Thu, Jan 04, 2001 at 01:36:21PM -0800, Don Marti wrote: >> ' is called forward tick > single quote Or just plain "tick" or sometimes "acute" (the other one is often referred to as "grave"). > > | is called pipe or bar > Just pipe. No, it's often called bar, especially outside of the unix community. > > / is called forward slash > Just slash. Either is acceptable. "Forward slash" tends to be used in sentences that also contain "backward slash", in order to emphasize the difference. > # is called octothorpe I have never heard or seen it called "octothorpe" outside of reference works (i.e. the Jargon File). Most common name in practice seems to be "pound" (although this invites confusion with "=A3"), and I've also seen it referred to as "sharp" (the ISO Forth standard calls it "sharp"). The "#!" at the start of many scripts is usually called "pound-bang". The Jargon File is a pretty good place to start for things like this, although it should be taken with a grain of salt, as some of its definitions have become semi-obsolete over the years. The Forth Language Standard also contains pronunciations for all Forth words, including most symbols, although some of them are Forth-specific (i.e. the pointer operators "@" and "!" are pronounced "fetch" and "store" respectively). > * is called star Or hexathorpe. :-) === Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 16:18:54 -0800 To: Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> From: Ian B MacLure <imaclure@mail.arc.nasa.gov> Subject: Re: [svlug] pound bang splat Cc: svlug@svlug.org >begin Dan Beimborn quotation: > > > # = "pound" > >Not if you aspire to communicate with the rest of the English-speaking >world. The term "pound" already refers to a currency symbol. Nope thats "pound(s)" as in "this here monitor weighs 40#". Standard engineering usage at least by MechEng types who do statics/dynamics in Imperial/US units. >"Hash" lacks that problem, and is what I use. How about "tictac" as in: X| o | --------- | X | o --------- | o | X and it won't attract the attention of Carnivore :) [SNIP] IBM === Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 16:28:41 -0800 From: Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> To: svlug@svlug.org Subject: Re: [svlug] pound bang splat begin Ian B MacLure quotation: > Nope thats "pound(s)" as in "this here monitor weighs 40#". Irrelevant to my point: Outside of a weight-measuring context, if you refer by name to the symbol "pound", this is ambiguous because of the symbol for pounds sterling. In my former firm of a decade ago, which had offices on both sides of the Atlantic, the term "hash" was thus necessary to avert massive confusion, and to avoid looking like clueless provincials in front of our European customers. > How about "tictac" Tell Safire. It might eventually approach "octothorpe's" mindshare. === Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 19:59:07 -0800 From: hvrietsc@yahoo.com To: Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> Cc: svlug@lists.svlug.org Subject: Re: [svlug] pound bang splat On Thu, Jan 04, 2001 at 03:58:22PM -0800, Rick Moen wrote: > begin Dan Beimborn quotation: > > > # = "pound" > > Not if you aspire to communicate with the rest of the English-speaking > world. The term "pound" already refers to a currency symbol. > > "Hash" lacks that problem, and is what I use. of course the reason that we call the # sign pound is because on older keyboards that symbol was on the same key as the # sign. (i am starting to feel old now) === Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 17:10:59 -0800 From: Joey Hess <joey@kitenet.net> To: svlug@svlug.org Subject: Re: [svlug] how to pronounce ~ The Official INTERCAL Character Set Tabulated on page 57 are all the characters used in INTERCAL, excepting letters and digits, along with their names and interpretations. Also included are several characters not used in INTERCAL, which are presented for completeness and to allow for future expansion. binarykmingleusrabberkfin)lifier)---------------------------------------------+ |Character Name Use (if any) | |. spot identify 16-bit variable | |: two-spot identify 32-bit variable | |, tail identify 16-bit array | |; hybrid identify 32-bit array | |# mesh identify constant | |= half-mesh | |' spark grouper | |` backspark | |! wow equivalent to spark-spot | |? what unary logical XOR | |" rabbit-ears grouper | |. rabbit equivalent to ears-spot | || spike | |% double-oh-seven percentage qualifier | |- worm used with angles | |< angle used with worms | |> right angle | |( wax precedes line label | |) wane follows line label | |[ U turn | |] U turn back | |{ embrace | |} bracelet | |* splat flags invalid statements | |& ampersand 10 unary logical AND | |V V (or book) unary logical OR | |- bookworm (universal qualifier) unary logical XOR (INTERCAL-72) | |$ big money binary mingle | |/ change binary mingle (INTERCAL-72) | |~ sqiggle binary select | |_ flat worm | |- overline indicates "times 1000" | |+ intersection separates list items | |/ slat | |\ backslat | |@ whirlpool unary logical BUT (TriINTERCAL) | |' hookworm | |^ shark (or simply sharkfin) unary logical XOR (TriINTERCAL) | |[] blotch | | bunghole | | name grabber | | andrew cross | | norwegian minus | | text grabber | | swash | | microscope | | interworm | |' half turn | |0xA3 quid binary mingle | |0xA4 zlotnik binary mingle | | | +-------Table-2-(top-view).-INTERCAL-character-set.---------------------------+ -- see shy jo ===