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"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 th
by 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 agoAre 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 agoDraw ℔ 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 agoPounds 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: "#".
- SmellyGeekBoy 10y agoI have to admit that possibility did cross my mind shortly after I posted my sibling comment. That said, I've never actually seen it used that way (only ever "lb")