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Subject:Re: the pound sign From:Tommy Trussell <twt -at- CEI -dot- NET> Date:Wed, 9 Aug 1995 12:01:40 -0500
>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.
I believe "octothorpe" is the symbol on a telephone dial that looks similar
to an asterisk (though it usually has a different number of points). I
learned the term in graduate school, but cannot immediately find a print
source to confirm the spelling and usage.
The pound sign is also called the number sign, and the difference is the
placement. For example: #1 = "number one" and 3# = "three pounds"
