From: "W. Wesley Groleau (Wes)" <wwgrol@PSESERV3.FW.HAC.COM>
Subject: Re: the term "pound sign" (was: help: character to integer)
Date: 1996/10/15
Date: 1996-10-15T00:00:00+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <9610152111.AA12943@most> (raw)
In a 1957 reprint of an even older edition of a dictionary that my wife and
I own, there is a section on symbols, divided by application domain.
In the "Commerce and Business" section, # is listed as meaning "pounds" when
it occurs after a number.
My mother (born 1933) and grandmother (1908) both had secretarial training,
both know nothing about computers, and both pronounced " 25# " as
"twenty-five pounds" even before I knew anything about computers.
The representation for '#' differs from '3' by one bit.
(BEGIN OPINION MODE)
I suspect this has something to do with the fact that typewriters for several
decades have had '#' as the shifted form of '3'.
(END OPINION MODE)
Do antique U.K typewriters have the pound stirling symbol above the three?
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W. Wesley Groleau (Wes) wwgrol x4923 MS 10-40 10C2C6 AFATDS IG
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next reply other threads:[~1996-10-15 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 20+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1996-10-15 0:00 W. Wesley Groleau (Wes) [this message]
1996-10-16 0:00 ` the term "pound sign" (was: help: character to integer) Robert Dewar
1996-10-17 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1996-10-18 0:00 ` Andrew Lynch
1996-10-23 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
1996-10-27 0:00 ` @@ robin
1996-10-28 0:00 ` 1941 and still looking... (was Re: the term "pound sign") Robert I. Eachus
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
1996-10-17 0:00 the term "pound sign" (was: help: character to integer) John Walker
1996-10-17 0:00 W. Wesley Groleau (Wes)
1996-10-18 0:00 ` Sandy McPherson
1996-10-18 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-10-18 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-10-02 0:00 help: character to integer Richard A. O'Keefe
1996-10-02 0:00 ` George Haddad
1996-10-05 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-10-07 0:00 ` the term "pound sign" (was: help: character to integer) Adam Beneschan
1996-10-09 0:00 ` Michael Feldman
1996-10-09 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1996-10-09 0:00 ` Michael Feldman
1996-10-10 0:00 ` Richard Kenner
1996-10-10 0:00 ` Adam Beneschan
1996-10-11 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1996-10-11 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
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