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=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,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: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman)
Subject: Re: the term "pound sign" (was: help: character to integer)
Date: 1996/10/09
Message-ID: <53hqv7$f8c@felix.seas.gwu.edu>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 188377943
references: <52t8la$2l8@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au> <53blbk$6va@krusty.irvine.com>
 <53gged$oqi@felix.seas.gwu.edu> <dewar.844907172@merv>
organization: George Washington University
newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Date: 1996-10-09T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


In article <dewar.844907172@merv>, Robert Dewar <dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu> wrote:

>Telegraphy codes which were the precursors to ASCII were certainly in
>wide use in 1958.

True, but all those physics teachers didn't get the # abbreviation
from telegraph codes. I doubt that there was any connection at that point.

>I must say I suspect that the guess that the # abbreviation for pound
>is older and ISO/ASCII copied this to decide where the stirling sigh
>went seems plausible, but we have no proof ye!

Well, I guess so. I wonder what a "stirling sigh" is.
I bet you meant "Sterling sign".:-)

Mike Feldman