Non-alphabetic Characters

Subject: Non-alphabetic Characters
From: Alun Whittaker <alun -at- CORTE-MADERA -dot- GEOQUEST -dot- SLB -dot- COM>
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1993 12:37:51 PST

HOLLAND -at- IPFWCVAX -dot- BITNET:
The British call a slash a stroke (Does that make the \ character a
backstroke.
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I'm British and I was taught that:

/ = "oblique" formally and "slash" in the vernacular

| = "vertical" formally and "bar" in the vernacular

"Stroke" I never heard of and I don't think that "\" existed in our
pre-computer symbology.

"Slash" and "Backslash" now seem to be accepted. I like "pipe" since
"vertical" is non-descriptive and "bar"can be confused with the overbar
used in equations to denote a mean value and usually referred to in text
as "(symbol name) bar", e.g mean density is "rho bar".

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What about the symbol which in writing I always refer to as "the
insertion point"? I don't really like that name because the
"insertion point" is not really *what* it is be *where* it is.

In my speech (usually) and thoughts (always) it continues to be
the "I-beam" but that name seems to lack the seal of propriety.

ALUN W...


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