…like you can tell where they're from. By listening to what they call things and how they speak.
! = pling (or exclamation mark)
” = quotes
# = hash
£ = pound sign
$ = string
^ = hat (or up-arrow)
& = and (rarely, ampersand)
* = star
_ = underscore
@ = at
~ = twiddle
? = query (or question mark)
| = vertical bar
` = backquote
() = brackets
{} = curly brackets
[] = square brackets
<> = angle brackets (or greater than, less than)
You're right! I can tell you're from the moon 🙂
! = exclamation mark
” = double quote (or quotes)
# = pound sign (or number sign)
£ = Lira
$ = string (or dollar sign)
^ = caret (I think they should be called “winkies” ^_^)
& = and (rarely, ampersand)
* = asterisk (or times, occasionally star)
_ = underscore
@ = at
~ = tilde
? = question mark
| = pipe
` = grave (pronounced grahv, or sometimes backticks, or backquotes)
() = parenthesis
{} = curly brackets
[] = brackets (or square brackets, or braces)
<> = less than, greater than
(http://livejournal.com/users/greatbiggary)
$ = string
Me too! That particular bit of damage never quite seems to go away, does it? 😉
(http://livejournal.com/users/auntysarah)
I'm afraid we will just have to live with the fact that we learned BASIC before meeting K&R.
(http://livejournal.com/users/elbeno)
Sir, I do not know you, yet in the past minute you have taken me to the depths of dismay (“Lira”? WTF?) then immediately back to joy (at last someone who knows what a caret is). It's been quite a roller-coaster, let me tell you.
(http://livejournal.com/users/editor)
I know, I feel terrible about the Lira thing. It's what Italy calls it, and my stepdad is Italian. I had Italian bills and coins with that symbol. We were sorely lacking for anyone from old England up in the New England states, at least in our particular area. I didn't know the symbol also stood for the British pound until much later, when posted this entry. Okay, maybe a little before that, but consider that the entirety of my knowledge of all things British prior to college consisted of late night “Are You Being Served?” reruns with poor reception from our not-very-local PBS affiliate. College broadened my horizons with Monty Python, and took things in new directions, shattering my fond illusions that all Brits, if not continuously wacky, are the hapless, gruffly befuddled victims of the majority who are.
(http://livejournal.com/users/greatbiggary)
Ah, I see! I travelled a bit in Italy before the euro came in, and I had seen it used to mean lire (particularly on market stalls, for some reason), but I don't remember ever seeing it on a banknote – I thought they just said “10,000 lire” in words. Oh well.
(http://livejournal.com/users/editor)
£ = pound sign, but when I was a kid/early teen, and reading this symbol in books, I always said “L” in my head not knowing that it stood for pound.
{} = “The set whose members are” or Alfred Hitchcock's profile – both from my 7th grade math teacher.
(http://livejournal.com/users/linca)