A tongue-in-cheek opinion piece in the National Post celebrates the return of the octothorpe. Some called it the pound sign, or a “capital 3″.
The Big O is a sign with deep historical and cultural roots, part of our heritage. It didn’t deserve the neglect it suffered in recent times. It’s lived under many names: the hash, the crunch, the hex (that’s in Singapore), the flash, the grid. In some circles it’s called tic-tactoe, in others pig-pen. From a distance it looks like the sharp sign on a musical score. Whether you call it a pound sign or a number sign or anything else, it retains its identity. It’s so majestically simple that it always looks good, even if drawn by someone utterly without graphic talent. Good old #. It can’t go wrong.
The octothorpe has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to its use on Twitter, but how much do you really know about this punctuation symbol? This article has the history of the octothorpe and several theories about how it got that name.
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