Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!pprg.unm.edu!hc!ames!apple!sun-barr!texsun!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: cca@cs.exeter.ac.uk (Clive Carmock) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: The Pound Sign Message-ID: Date: 30 May 89 18:57:01 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: Computer Science Dept. - University of Exeter. UK Lines: 20 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 181, message 3 of 4 An interesting point has just cropped up. Does anyone know of the origins of calling '#' a pound sign? It seems to be used quite often in automated telephone systems, where the user is told to follow some code or other with 'the pound key'. In the UK the '#' symbol is generally called a 'hash'. I wonder if this confusion over nomenclature caused the REAL pound sign to be missed from that ASCII character set altogether. So if I type the pound sign key on this terminal, it is echoed back as ` !!! Clive Carmock [Moderator's Note: And just about the time you thought the subject of octothorpes was dead! The return of the living octothorpes. Please see Volume 8, Issue 190 (12-1-88) for a special issue of the Digest entitled "All You Ever Wanted To Know About Octothorpes". There is one good use for the 'tic-tac-toe key', and that is to play the game of the same name. All you need is a pencil or pen with a very tiny, microscopic point on it. After each game, use a sponge to wipe the key off so you can play a new game. PT]