3 ms·

>Just as a reminder, we use n! to mean n(n−1)(n−2)(n−3)...3.2.1, so that means 6!=6.5.4.3.2.1=720. The exclamation mark is sometimes pronounced "pling" and this

by cbsks 8y ago

>Just as a reminder, we use n! to mean n(n−1)(n−2)(n−3)...3.2.1, so that means 6!=6.5.4.3.2.1=720. The exclamation mark is sometimes pronounced "pling" and this operation is called "factorial". I’ve never heard the factorial symbol called “pling” before, I think we pronounced “6!” as “six factorial” in my undergraduate math classes in the US. Is “pling” a common term that I completely overlooked? Or is it more common in the UK?

robinhouston 8y ago
I think it’s a rather old-fashioned British term. I haven’t heard it for years, but it used to be fairly common in sufficiently nerdy circles over here.
ColinWright 8y ago
In various circles it can be called pling, bang, or shriek. These are names for the symbol, whereas "factorial" is the name for the function. In particular the opening line of a (U|Li)nix script is: #!<path> and that's sometimes called the "hash bang". From wikipedia[0]: In the printing world, the exclamation mark can be called a screamer, a gasper, a slammer, or a startler. In hacker culture, the exclamation mark is called "bang", "shriek", or, in the British slang known as Commonwealth Hackish, "pling". [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Slang_and_other_names_for_the_exclamation_mark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Slang_and_oth...
- cbsks 8y ago
  Don’t forget about interrobang, aka “?!” “Shriek” is a new one to me, however. What context is it used in?
  - ColinWright 8y ago
    From Wikipedia[0]: > The name given to "!" by programmers varies according to their background. In the UK the term pling was popular in the earlier days of computing, whilst in the United States, the term shriek was used. It is claimed that these word usages were invented in the US and shriek is from Stanford or MIT; however, shriek for the ! sign is found in the Oxford English Dictionary dating from the 1860s. From another web site[1]: > It is also called an exclamation mark or tellingly, in newspaper jargon, a shriek. ================ References: [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Computers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Computers [1] https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-exclamation-points-1691411 https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-exclamation-points-169141...

by cbsks 8y ago

robinhouston 8y ago

I think it’s a rather old-fashioned British term. I haven’t heard it for years, but it used to be fairly common in sufficiently nerdy circles over here.

ColinWright 8y ago

In various circles it can be called pling, bang, or shriek. These are names for the symbol, whereas "factorial" is the name for the function. In particular the opening line of a (U|Li)nix script is: #!<path> and that's sometimes called the "hash bang". From wikipedia[0]: In the printing world, the exclamation mark can be called a screamer, a gasper, a slammer, or a startler. In hacker culture, the exclamation mark is called "bang", "shriek", or, in the British slang known as Commonwealth Hackish, "pling". [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Slang_and_other_names_for_the_exclamation_mark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Slang_and_oth...

cbsks 8y ago
Don’t forget about interrobang, aka “?!” “Shriek” is a new one to me, however. What context is it used in?
- ColinWright 8y ago
  From Wikipedia[0]: > The name given to "!" by programmers varies according to their background. In the UK the term pling was popular in the earlier days of computing, whilst in the United States, the term shriek was used. It is claimed that these word usages were invented in the US and shriek is from Stanford or MIT; however, shriek for the ! sign is found in the Oxford English Dictionary dating from the 1860s. From another web site[1]: > It is also called an exclamation mark or tellingly, in newspaper jargon, a shriek. ================ References: [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Computers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclamation_mark#Computers [1] https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-exclamation-points-1691411 https://www.thoughtco.com/multiple-exclamation-points-169141...