Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!bellcore!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway
From: CER2520%ritvax.bitnet@eecs.nwu.edu (C. E. Reid)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: The Pound Sign
Message-ID: <telecom-v09i0183m08@vector.dallas.tx.us>
Date: 1 Jun 89 13:26:00 GMT
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X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 183, message 8 of 10

>Does anyone know of the origins of calling '#' a pound sign?

        I can offer an explanation of using the term "pound key" for '#'.  When
I used to work in a warehouse, shipping/receiving packages uses these symbols
to indicate the weight in pounds.  For example, a package weights 100 pounds
can be expressed in one of the following ways:

                "100 pounds"
                "100 lbs."
        or      "100 #"

        Hope this brings a light to this mystery.

                        Curtis