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2002-12-15
I don't think a day goes by when we pick up the phone, and
call someone only to be greeted by an automatic operator. In many of those
messages, we are often told to press a key called "the pound sign".
To those who live in the US, this is the # key.
What is this key called in metric countries? How
many know that the correct name is OCTOTHORP or OCTOTHORPE? How many use
this term. I feel as metricators, we need to refrain from using the term
"pound sign" when referring to this symbol and use the correct name. Even
when someone asks us what is an Octothorp, we can take it as an opportunity to
explain its correct name.
Some interesting info I found on this key when I did a
Google search:
O c t o t h o r p:
#
The octothorp as the sign that adds
digital quality to text describes the eight fields around the village square,
hence octothorp. The center is empty. �Otherwise known as the numeral
sign. It has also been used as a symbol for the pound avoirdupois, but this
usage is now archaic. In cartography, it is also a symbol for village: eight
fields around a central square, and this is the source of its name. Octothorp
means eight fields.�
Robert Bringhurst:
The Elements of Typographic Style. 1992
Posted by Mitzi Cole on August 29, 2000
at 22:47:03:
You mentioned this word in class Monday night. Here are some definitions and
stories about the origin of the word octothorp.
1. From http://pages.zoom.co.uk/leveridge/dictionary.html#O
Neologisms - a Dictionary of Findable Words and Phrases
by Richard
Leveridge
Octothorpe
Definition: Octothorpe is one of a number of names used for
the # symbol on telephones and keyboards. Also called "number sign", "hash mark"
"sharp sign", "scratch" or "gate". In the USA only, it is referred to as the
"pound sign" referring to weight, as in "a 6# bag of sprouts", but also
sometimes referring to pounds sterling (because the "�" symbol did not often
appear on USA typewriter keyboards).
British Telecom customer messages call
it the "square". Commonly in UK telecoms engineering usage, it is called the
"gate" symbol.
The official ANSI/CCITT name is "number sign". PostScript
language calls it the "numbersign".
Derivation: Mark Israel in the
ALT.USAGE.ENGLISH FAQ file writes:- ...in a failed attempt to avoid the naming
problem by creating a new name, the term "octothorp(e)" (which MWCD10 dates
1971) was invented for "#", allegedly by Bell Labs engineers when touch-tone
telephones were introduced in the mid-1960s. "Octo-" means eight, and "thorp"
was an Old English word for _village_: apparently the sign was playfully
construed as eight fields surrounding a village. Another story has it that a
Bell Labs supervisor named Don MacPherson coined the word from the number of
endpoints and from the surname of U.S. athlete James Francis Thorpe.
Merriam-Webster Editorial Department told me: "All of the stories you record are
known to us, but the evidence does not line up nicely behind any one of
them."
A large number of variant names for the # sign have been attested:
Official usage: number sign; pound; pound sign; hash; sharp; gate; square.
Unofficial, slang, nickname usage: grid; crunch; crosshatch; mesh; flash;
square, pig-pen; tictactoe; scratchmark; thud; thump; splat; hex, grate,
reticule.
Variant spellings: octothorp, oktothorpe
3. Letter to a Listserv:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ralph Carlsen)
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995
16:21:55 �0500
Subject: Octothorpe (The Answer)
Pat,
The following explains where "octothorpe" really came from. I am
sending this to you because, as you will see, there are very few people who
could know this story. The reason I am writing at this time is because I
volunteered for the AT&T Lay Off package after 34years of service at Bell
Labs so I may not be around much longer. During the past year I have enjoyed
reading your news group, and I have used your archives a couple of times (once
to get "octothorpe"). Your comments and notes on the postings suggest you and I
would agree on lots of things related to our telecom industry. Ralph Carlsen THE
REAL SOURCE OF THE WORD "OCTOTHORPE" First, where did the symbols * and # come
from? In about 1961when DTMF dials were still in development, two Bell Labs guys
in data communications engineering (Link Rice and Jack Soderberg) toured the USA
talking to people who were thinking about telephone access to computers. They
asked about possible applications, and what symbols should be used on two keys
that would be used exclusively for data applications. The primary result was
that the symbols should be something available on all standard typewriter
keyboards. The * and #were selected as a result of this study, and people did
not expect to use those keys for voice services. The Bell System in those days
did not look internationally to see if this was a good choice for foreign
countries. Then in the early 1960s Bell Labs developed the 101 ESS which was the
first stored program controlled switching system (it was a PBX). One of the
first installations was at the Mayo Clinic. This PBX had lots of modern features
(Call Forwarding, Speed Calling, Directed Call Pickup, etc.), some of which were
activated by using the # sign. A Bell Labs supervisor DON MACPHERSON went to the
Mayo Clinic just before cut over to train the doctors and staff on how to use
the new features on this state of the art switching system. During one of his
lectures he felt the need to come up with a word to describe the #symbol. Don
also liked to add humor to his work. His thought process which took place while
at the Mayo Clinic doing lectures was as follows: - There are eight points on
the symbol so "OCTO" should be part of the name. - We need a few more letters or
another syllable to make a noun, so what should that be? (Don MacPherson at this
point in his life was active in a group that was trying to get JIM THORPE's
Olympic medals returned from Sweden) The phrase THORPE would be unique, and
people would not suspect he was making the word up if he called it an
"OCTOTHORPE". So Don Macpherson began using the term Octothorpe to describe the
# symbol in his lectures. When he returned to Bell Labs in Holmdel NJ, he told
us what he had done, and began using the term Octothorpe in memos and letters.
The term was picked up by other Bell Labs people and used mostly for the fun of
it. Some of the documents which used the term Octothorpe found their way to Bell
Operating Companies and other public places. Over the years, Don and I have
enjoyed seeing the term Octothorpe appear in documents from many different
sources. Don MacPherson retired about eight years ago, and I will be retiring in
about six weeks.
Ralph Carlsen
These are, of course, my remembrances and
are not any official statement of AT&T or the subsequent 3
companies.
John
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