7 ms·

It's a bit like how a lot of people refer to '#' as 'hashtag' these days, without knowing about 'the pound symbol' or 'sharp' (if you are a musician). :)

daurnimator 10y ago
or octothorp
aethertron 10y ago
The symbol is named 'hash' in Britain.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
justinlardinois 10y ago
It's a different symbol than the sharp, and I don't blame anyone for not knowing it's rarely used for that purpose these days. I had a web design professor who said its "true" name was octothorpe, and while various sources confirm that, I've never heard anyone else call it that. Another student in the same class once called it the "tic tac toe symbol."
- cyberferret 10y ago
  > It's a different symbol than the sharp Ok, the true pedants can tilt their head a little to see the difference between a # and a [Edit: Hmm it seems HN doesn't support pasting of extended characters such as the musical 'sharp'?!?]... I will have to change the pronunciation in my C# programming books to 'C-hash' instead of 'C-sharp'... :)
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - ethanbond 10y ago
    I think you're missing the point. There's the shape and there's the symbol. An octagon is a shape. A stop sign is a symbol that happens to be an octagon. Inversely, an octagon in the context of street signs represents "stop." The octothorpe, used in music, represents "sharp." In front of a number it represents "pound." In front of a string on twitter it represents "hashtag." AFAIK the typographical/visual differences are basically irrelevant. It's just a different symbol with a different meaning in different contexts, all represented with the same shape.
    - jakobegger 10y ago
      In my opinion the sharp symbol is very different from the hash symbol #. If you argue that these two are the same symbol, then so would be "d" and "q".
      - tamana 10y ago
        You were correct before ASCII and English keyboards and Microsoft C# gave the # an expanded role out of convenience
      - dragonwriter 10y ago
        > In my opinion the sharp symbol is very different from the hash symbol #. Yes, the pound sign is different than the sharp symbol, just as single quotes are different than apostrophes, and guillemets are different than less-than and greater-than symbols, and the flat symbol is different than "b". Now, limitations of first common US typewriters and then the ASCII character set have led to conventions where some of these have been used in place of the other because the correct symbol wasn't available, but that's different than the symbols being the same, and in most modern contexts, the correct symbol is usually available.
    - Mtinie 10y ago
      - sharp [1] # ‎- octothorpe [2] Different symbols, though very similar. (Edit: So much so that the true sharp symbol apparently does not render correctly on HN) [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_(music) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_(music) [2] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/octothorpe https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/octothorpe
  - Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
    Most books I've seen use C rather than C#. Bad editor if they don't.
    - justinlardinois 10y ago
      I assume there was supposed to be a sharp after the first C?
    - tamana 10y ago
      Microsoft, the inventor and trademark owner, use # on their website.
    - mikestew 10y ago
      But I'm guessing that you've figured out after reading your own comment that the musical sharp symbol is not rendered in all mediums (including HN). Were I required to search for reference material related to Microsoft's C-like language using proper typography, I'd have to go cut-and-paste the symbol from a WikiPedia page because I don't know how to get it from keyboard to textfield otherwise. IMO, yeah, maybe not the best choice by MSFT. But pragmatically, we all know what "#" means in that context even if it's not correct. All the Monday-morning-quarterbacking in the world isn't going to change that. So I'm as all for an academic discussion as the next person, but that's all it is.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- geon 10y ago
  I used to call it "fence" (gärdsgård) in Swedish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundpole_fence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundpole_fence
Asooka 10y ago
Pronouncing it as "pound" lends a whole new universe of meaning to many trending hashtags :)
nicky0 10y ago
Where I'm from (UK) this has always been called the "hash" symbol. Although British Telecom voice prompts insisted on calling it the "square" key for a while.
- Symbiote 10y ago
  "For drugs, press the hash key" To hash means to chop up, which is a possible origin. To [cross] hatch means to colour in a space with [crossed] parallel lines, which is also possible. (I know you know this. Others probably don't.)
  - nicky0 10y ago
    Corned Beef #.
ethanbond 10y ago
It has always been called hash in some regions/contexts. I'm pretty sure the shape itself (i.e. regardless of context) is called an octothorpe. So no it's not at all like that.
SmellyGeekBoy 10y ago
I never understood why it was known as a "pound sign" in America. Surely that would be "£" ? I think I have some Googling to do. :)
- JoshTriplett 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign#Usage_in_North_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign#Usage_in_North_Ame... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound
Scarblac 10y ago
"Pound symbol" always confuses me. £ is the symbol for Pound sterling, and on UK keyboards that's at the same place (shift-3) as the # is on the US keyboards that we use in the Netherlands. It's as if people who call # the pound sign are from the UK and typed shift-3 on someone else's keyboard without actually noticing what showed up on the screen.
- JoshTriplett 10y ago
  '#', by the name "pound sign" and used after a number (like 12#), refers to pounds of weight, not pounds of currency.
  - david-given 10y ago
    Are you sure about that? Pounds weight has its own symbol, ℔ (U+2114, http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2114/index.htm http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2114/index.htm if HN won't show it). I've always known # as representing "number", which is why you see it in lists: #1, #2, #3 etc.
    - Symbiote 10y ago
      Draw ℔ very carelessly, and you end up with #. # is never, ever, ever called the "pound sign" in Britain or Ireland. That's always £.
    - ghaff 10y ago
      # after the number is widely understood to refer to pounds (as in weight) in the US. Not sure how common that use is these days but most people would understand what was meant if they saw it.
    - mikestew 10y ago
      Pounds weight has its own symbol, ℔ A symbol that, after many decades of living in the U. S., I'm seeing for the first time just today. In my experience, if it's not written as "lb." or "lbs.", a hash is often used: "#".
  - 10y ago
TorKlingberg 10y ago
A problem with calling # a "pound sign" is that it's easily confused with £.
c3833174 10y ago
Aka small gate
poof_he_is_gone 10y ago
There is a podcast on the origin of the octothorpe name http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/octothorpe/ http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/octothorpe/
tamana 10y ago
It's a hash, not a hashtag. The hashtag is the # plus a "tag" word. When someone says "hashtag foo", they went spelling it out # + foo, they are saying "this is a hashtag, not a regular word in my setencen; the tag is foo" and the # is silent. #prescriptivism.

daurnimator 10y ago

or octothorp

aethertron 10y ago

The symbol is named 'hash' in Britain.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

justinlardinois 10y ago

It's a different symbol than the sharp, and I don't blame anyone for not knowing it's rarely used for that purpose these days. I had a web design professor who said its "true" name was octothorpe, and while various sources confirm that, I've never heard anyone else call it that. Another student in the same class once called it the "tic tac toe symbol."

cyberferret 10y ago
> It's a different symbol than the sharp Ok, the true pedants can tilt their head a little to see the difference between a # and a [Edit: Hmm it seems HN doesn't support pasting of extended characters such as the musical 'sharp'?!?]... I will have to change the pronunciation in my C# programming books to 'C-hash' instead of 'C-sharp'... :)
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- ethanbond 10y ago
  I think you're missing the point. There's the shape and there's the symbol. An octagon is a shape. A stop sign is a symbol that happens to be an octagon. Inversely, an octagon in the context of street signs represents "stop." The octothorpe, used in music, represents "sharp." In front of a number it represents "pound." In front of a string on twitter it represents "hashtag." AFAIK the typographical/visual differences are basically irrelevant. It's just a different symbol with a different meaning in different contexts, all represented with the same shape.
  - jakobegger 10y ago
    In my opinion the sharp symbol is very different from the hash symbol #. If you argue that these two are the same symbol, then so would be "d" and "q".
    - tamana 10y ago
      You were correct before ASCII and English keyboards and Microsoft C# gave the # an expanded role out of convenience
    - dragonwriter 10y ago
      > In my opinion the sharp symbol is very different from the hash symbol #. Yes, the pound sign is different than the sharp symbol, just as single quotes are different than apostrophes, and guillemets are different than less-than and greater-than symbols, and the flat symbol is different than "b". Now, limitations of first common US typewriters and then the ASCII character set have led to conventions where some of these have been used in place of the other because the correct symbol wasn't available, but that's different than the symbols being the same, and in most modern contexts, the correct symbol is usually available.
  - Mtinie 10y ago
    - sharp [1] # ‎- octothorpe [2] Different symbols, though very similar. (Edit: So much so that the true sharp symbol apparently does not render correctly on HN) [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_(music) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_(music) [2] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/octothorpe https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/octothorpe
- Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
  Most books I've seen use C rather than C#. Bad editor if they don't.
  - justinlardinois 10y ago
    I assume there was supposed to be a sharp after the first C?
  - tamana 10y ago
    Microsoft, the inventor and trademark owner, use # on their website.
  - mikestew 10y ago
    But I'm guessing that you've figured out after reading your own comment that the musical sharp symbol is not rendered in all mediums (including HN). Were I required to search for reference material related to Microsoft's C-like language using proper typography, I'd have to go cut-and-paste the symbol from a WikiPedia page because I don't know how to get it from keyboard to textfield otherwise. IMO, yeah, maybe not the best choice by MSFT. But pragmatically, we all know what "#" means in that context even if it's not correct. All the Monday-morning-quarterbacking in the world isn't going to change that. So I'm as all for an academic discussion as the next person, but that's all it is.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
geon 10y ago
I used to call it "fence" (gärdsgård) in Swedish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundpole_fence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundpole_fence

Asooka 10y ago

Pronouncing it as "pound" lends a whole new universe of meaning to many trending hashtags :)

nicky0 10y ago

Where I'm from (UK) this has always been called the "hash" symbol. Although British Telecom voice prompts insisted on calling it the "square" key for a while.

Symbiote 10y ago
"For drugs, press the hash key" To hash means to chop up, which is a possible origin. To [cross] hatch means to colour in a space with [crossed] parallel lines, which is also possible. (I know you know this. Others probably don't.)
- nicky0 10y ago
  Corned Beef #.

ethanbond 10y ago

It has always been called hash in some regions/contexts. I'm pretty sure the shape itself (i.e. regardless of context) is called an octothorpe. So no it's not at all like that.

SmellyGeekBoy 10y ago

I never understood why it was known as a "pound sign" in America. Surely that would be "£" ? I think I have some Googling to do. :)

JoshTriplett 10y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign#Usage_in_North_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign#Usage_in_North_Ame... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound

Scarblac 10y ago

"Pound symbol" always confuses me. £ is the symbol for Pound sterling, and on UK keyboards that's at the same place (shift-3) as the # is on the US keyboards that we use in the Netherlands. It's as if people who call # the pound sign are from the UK and typed shift-3 on someone else's keyboard without actually noticing what showed up on the screen.

JoshTriplett 10y ago
'#', by the name "pound sign" and used after a number (like 12#), refers to pounds of weight, not pounds of currency.
- david-given 10y ago
  Are you sure about that? Pounds weight has its own symbol, ℔ (U+2114, http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2114/index.htm http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2114/index.htm if HN won't show it). I've always known # as representing "number", which is why you see it in lists: #1, #2, #3 etc.
  - Symbiote 10y ago
    Draw ℔ very carelessly, and you end up with #. # is never, ever, ever called the "pound sign" in Britain or Ireland. That's always £.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    # after the number is widely understood to refer to pounds (as in weight) in the US. Not sure how common that use is these days but most people would understand what was meant if they saw it.
  - mikestew 10y ago
    Pounds weight has its own symbol, ℔ A symbol that, after many decades of living in the U. S., I'm seeing for the first time just today. In my experience, if it's not written as "lb." or "lbs.", a hash is often used: "#".
- 10y ago

TorKlingberg 10y ago

A problem with calling # a "pound sign" is that it's easily confused with £.

c3833174 10y ago

Aka small gate

poof_he_is_gone 10y ago

There is a podcast on the origin of the octothorpe name http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/octothorpe/ http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/octothorpe/

tamana 10y ago

It's a hash, not a hashtag. The hashtag is the # plus a "tag" word. When someone says "hashtag foo", they went spelling it out # + foo, they are saying "this is a hashtag, not a regular word in my setencen; the tag is foo" and the # is silent. #prescriptivism.