On Hashtags and Octothorpes
Mollie Hemingway ·
Dec 8, 2010 at 12:50pm
There's nothing like moving house and home, with two little ones in tow, to throw things off. After 13+ years in Washington, D.C., I now reside in Virginia. It's only a few miles away, but it feels so different. I've missed my Ricochet community and as I get back into posting, I'll probably post things you all encountered weeks ago. Just mock me, if I do.
First on the list: "What we have here is one of the great comeback stories in the history of competitive punctuation."
If you're a copy editing nerd, you'll love it.
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
I've never heard it called "octothorpe" (and apparently neither has Ricochet's spellcheck). I've always called it "pound."
If I knew there were competitive punctuations, I would have bet all My $ on @.
Aug '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
I can't resist repeating this ol' nerdly gag -- it's the perfect occasion for it.
It's a poem. No, seriously:
< > ! * ' ' #
Edited on Dec 8, 2010 at 1:07pm^ " ` $ $ -
! * = @ $ _
% * < > ~ # 4
& [ ] . . /
| { , , SYSTEM HALTED
Aug '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
In other punctuation news, the registering of the SarcMark has apparently spawned a backlash called the Open Sarcasm Movement that wants to reclaim "sarcasm for the people" and "bring down Big Sarcasm".
How do they propose to do this? By popularizing the traditional Ethiopian use of ¡ at the end of a statement as an unreality (thus sarcasm) indicator. (And as ¡ is already in popular use for the purpose, it can't be copyrighted, or so they say.)
The world is a wondrous place.
But doesn't it take some of the fun out of sarcasm if you have to mark it?
Jul '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
No, Midge, it doesn't take the fun out of it at all¡
Aug '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
Midget Faded Rattlesnake:
< >
I followed the link, and was amused, but I object to calling < and > both WAKA.
a) I must not be as big a nerd as my wife thinks I am, as I have never heard this usage.
b) But more importantly, it is useless. If you pronounce both < and > the same way, you can't express to someone else which one you mean.
I also haven't heard 'splat' for *. While 'asterisk' is a mouthful, 'star' is one easy syllable. But then, friends of mine at Bell Labs in the 80's did pronounce '!' as 'ball-bat', so de gustibus non est disputandum.
Aug '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
Mark Woodworth
I followed the link, and was amused, but I object to calling < and > both WAKA.
Well, to be fair, tell me...
Which one is the parenthesis: ) or ( ?
Which one is the bracket: [ or ] ?
Which one is the brace: } or { ?
It would seem, therefore, that the traditional logic of bracket-style punctuation is to call each end by the same name and, when there is a need to distinguish, call one left-bracket and the other right-bracket.
So < and > are both waka, with < the left waka and > the right waka.
This naming style makes a certain amount of sense, given the arbitrariness inherent in punctuation to begin with.
Oct '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
Can we also bring back the interrobang ‽
Aug '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
Gosh, was it ever dead?!
Jul '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
Perhaps ~Paules has an opinion on punctuation?
Jul '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
About time. I've had it with all the inauthentic, canned punctuation comeback stories the media constantly peddle.
Sep '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
It sounds like something whose very existence violates the Ricochet Code of Conduct.
Sep '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
I'd also like to say that this just further illustrates my point that what will split the conservative in movement in two is the distinction between emoticon and texticon. A sad day when it happens. I remain a texticon and if I ever am caught using a smiley in my posts, I hope you will hire the appropriate person to have me assassinated.
The unused Ricochet credit for the month may be donated to the rest home for retired punctuation marks. They deserve a humane wait until the death panels kick in.
Nov '10
Re: On Hashtags and Octothorpes
Pseudodionysius
It sounds like something whose very existence violates the Ricochet Code of Conduct. · Dec 9 at 4:42am
Congratulations on my first "spew coffee out my nose" moment since joining.