" I want to debate any Catholic"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sirach14
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
# is indeed used for pound as a unit of weight. Just not very often anymore. Here’s a cite:
It is also known as a “number sign”, since it stands for the word number in such places as in “apartment #2”. It is referred to as a pound sign because it was in some American commerce usage (back in the longhand days) to stand for the unit of weight (“25# flour @15¢/#”).
Click to expand...
While we’re talking about pounds, the word “sterling” seems to originate from the Middle English version of star + ling ≈ little star, after the image on silver pennies from the Norman age.
 
We’ve always have used it at the clinic as shorthand for pound…lol
 
40.png
katybird:
In the US, “pound” as a unit of measure is abbreviated as “lb”

is called the “pound sign” but I don’t think it has anything to do with units of measure. I don’t know where it originated, but it’s really only called “pound sign” on telephone keypads. In writing, it’s a symbol that’s read as “number” such as “You need to multiply the price by the #of items” . Perhaps the recorders of voice mail systems find it awkward to say “If you need to hear this message again, press the number sign” or whatever. The key with the asterisk is called the “star” sign, and the # is called pount. Don’t really know why, though.​

Click to expand...

That reminds me: to indicate numbers, we (usually) write “no.”, or “item”, rather than “#”.​

We call the # -sign the “hash”; at least when it appears, as it always does, on the array of telephone keys.

I don’t know why - I suspect it should be spelt “hache”; it does sound French-like. (“Hash” is a word for certain foods, or for a mess or mix-up or confusion.) ##
 
So Gottle, is the symbol commonly used at all, if people don’t use it for “number”?
 
Gottle of Geer said:
## TY for the Link 🙂

A pound in money is indicated by this - £
A pound by weight or by volume is indicated by this - lb.

£ is an abbrevation for libra

lb., is also an abbrevation for libra

I have never seen # used for pound, of any measure: dry, liquid, monetary, or other. It must be a USA convention. ##
Click to expand...

The # sign has been designated the standard ASCII pound symbol ever since the ASCII standard was established in 1937 or so.

Peace be with you.
 
wow! The debate topic over Our Lady took a dive right into the pond I guess. 😉

See what that Evangelical Outreach forum can do when we aren’t paying attention? It can foil our own threads!
 
Doesn’t ASCII stand for the American Standard Code II? Hey look, someone has to organize this world properly.

🙂
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top