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Subject:Re: What do you call this? From:Vincent Reh <VincentR -at- SC -dot- HARRIS -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 9 May 1995 08:09:00 EDT
This thread reminds me of the time the Bell System tried to name the pound
sign (#) an "octothorp" or something like that. Needless to say, it never
caught on and must've created some bewildered users. Come to think of it,
the Bell System also tried to reconfigure all their QWERTY keyboards but had
to drop the idea after temp agencies refused to deal with "Ma".
Vincent Reh
vincentr -at- sc -dot- harris -dot- com
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> What do you call the circle a (@) that is commonly
> called the AT sign? I know there is a more precise
> name for it somewhere. Does anyone know it?
This was a recent topic on the copyediting list. As I recall, no
one came up with a name. Because it lacked one, I started calling it a
"lasso," which several people liked. :)
The bottom line, though, was that the "at sign" is a completely
valid name. Compare dollar sign, percent sign, plus sign, ...
=*= Beverly Parks =*= bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil =*=
=*= "These opinions are mine, not my employer's." =*=
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