Re: fortran character set

Richard Maine wrote:
Phillip Helbig---remove CLOTHES to reply
<helbig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <1188271167.470173@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, harper@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
(John Harper) writes:

The problem is all the non-dollar currency symbols. Many Americans call
the hash mark or octothorp a pound sign, but it has nothing to do with
currency. ...
But isn't this just because the pound sign (£) and the number sign (#)
are often on the same key and depending on the environment either one or
the other might be printed? Alternatively, the ASCII code might be interpreted in a non-standard variant as the pound sign, so if I send
you £ and say it is pound, you might see # and call it the pound sign.

No, that is not why. Those usages predate computers. I didn't bother
trying to track it down, but I'm (moderately) sure that the octothorpe
was called a pound sign when I was a kid. Not that I quite predate
computers, but certainly "ordinary" people wouldn't have been much
influenced by such computer conventions then.

I agree and from previous correlating data it appears I'm "slightly" ahead of you, Richard... :)

But, I seem to recall there were typewriters before computer keyboards that also had the upper-shift "3" as the "£" instead of "#". Then, of course, along came the IBM Selectric and similar w/ the interchangeable ball. Of course, by then mainframe computers were around but pretty much predated any personal computers.

The use of "#" as lb-wt goes way back in the US. I don't have any clue as to where/when/how it was first popularized in that usage, but I have farm records of granddad's where wheat test weights from the '10s and '20s were written that way (longhand). I'm reasonably confident that wasn't anything new even then...

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: fortran character set
    ... the hash mark or octothorp a pound sign, but it has nothing to do with ... If one is is referring to currency, a real pound sign is a ... Those usages predate computers. ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: fortran character set
    ... If one is is referring to currency, a real pound sign is a ... Those usages predate computers. ... Octothorpe is totally over the top! ... "Hash mark" seems the more common term in computer lingo. ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)
  • Re: Pound Sign On A US Keyboard
    ... James Knott wrote: ... > symbol is called an octothorp. ... it a "pound sign" and using it in a phrase such as "I mixed a 2# cut of shellac" ... Kevin & Theresa Miller ...
    (alt.os.linux.suse)
  • Re: fortran character set
    ... the hash mark or octothorp a pound sign, but it has nothing to do with ... If one is is referring to currency, a real pound sign is a ...
    (comp.lang.fortran)