From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_40,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,60973b026c6e423d X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: adam@irvine.com (Adam Beneschan) Subject: Re: the term "pound sign" (was: help: character to integer) Date: 1996/10/07 Message-ID: <53blbk$6va@krusty.irvine.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 187408005 references: <52t8la$2l8@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au> <3252BEC8.529E@lmco.com> organization: /z/news/newsctl/organization newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1996-10-07T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: ****************************************************************** * And now, for another installation of . . . * * * * PEDANT'S CORNER * * * * the occasional discussion where we talk about nitpicks that * * have absolutely nothing to do with the newsgroup * ****************************************************************** dewar@schonberg.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) writes: >. . . But for example, the symbol for 16#23# which is # in >the US version, is the pound stirling symbol in the UK (this is why # on >a US touch tone phone is called the pound key). Hmmm . . . In Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, there's a table "Weights and Measures" with the following line: UNIT ABBR. OR SYMBOL EQUIVALENTS IN OTHER UNITS METRIC EQUIVALENT OF SAME SYSTEM pound lb or lb avdp also # 16 ounces, 7000 grains 0.454 kilogram probably indicating that the use of the term "pound sign" for # did not arise from an accident of the ASCII chart. It seems more likely to me that the common names for the two symbols led the character-code designers to give them the same ASCII code, not the other way around. Anyone have any definitive information that would settle this question of the utmost importance? -- Adam