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From: gmb@natcorp.ox.ac.uk (Glynis Baguley)
Subject: Re: @ character
Message-ID: <1995Feb21.121908.11041@onionsnatcorp.ox.ac.uk>
Originator: gmb@onions.natcorp
Organization: British National Corpus, Oxford University, GB
References: <1995Feb12.105904.320@kuc01.kuniv.edu.kw>> <3hleh0$t8p@agate.berkeley.edu> <1995Feb14.122047.328@kuc01.kuniv.edu.kw>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 12:19:08 GMT
Lines: 39

In article <1995Feb14.122047.328@kuc01.kuniv.edu.kw> tim@kuc01.kuniv.edu.kw writes:
> 
> Correct me if I'm wrong on these, and add what you can from other languages:
> 
> ~	tilde				@	commercial "at"
> #	number sign			$	dollar sign
> %	per cent mark (why not sign?)	^	caret
> &	ampersand (<"and per se and")	*	asterisk
> ()	parentheses			+	plus sign
> -	minus sign, hyphen, en-dash	=	equals sign
> []	brackets, square brackets	{}	braces, curly braces
> |	pipe (but before computers?)	\	backslash
> /	slash, stroke			<>	angle brackets
> 
> Colloquially, I've heard "#" called a tic-tac-toe sign, "*" called a star,
> etc.  (I confess to saying "star-dot-star" instead of "asterisk-period-
> asterisk" out of sheer laziness.)  Does the computer generation call 
> a caret a "Control sign" or "to-the-power-of sign"?

I've heard ~ called a twiddle, 
# hash and sharp, 
() brackets or round brackets, 
/ oblique (in non-computing circles; more formal than stroke and more
British than slash) and solidus, 
@ `the hat sign' (from not understanding `the at sign'), 
{} curly brackets. 

Then there's

	! 

I call it an exclamation mark, but have heard bang and shriek
(nearly deafened me).

-- 
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{      Glynis.Baguley@oucs.ox.ac.uk     }
{  Oxford University Computing Services }
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