Hash character




<character> "#", ASCII character 35.

Common names: number sign; pound; pound sign; hash; sharp; crunch; hex; INTERCAL: mesh.

Rare: grid; crosshatch; octothorpe; flash; ITU-T: square, pig-pen; tictactoe; scratchmark; thud; thump; splat.

The pronunciation of "#" as "pound" is common in the US but a bad idea; Commonwealth Hackish has its own, rather more apposite use of "pound sign" (confusingly, on British keyboards the pound graphic happens to replace "#"; thus Britishers sometimes call "#" on a US-ASCII keyboard "pound", compounding the American error).

The US usage derives from an old-fashioned commercial practice of using a "#" suffix to tag pound weights on bills of lading.

The character is usually pronounced "hash" outside the US.

The name "octothorpe" was made up by a Bell Labs supervisor, Don Macpherson.

Octothorpe story (http://www.sigtel.com/tel_tech_octothorpe.html).



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Harvard Mark II Machine
Harvest
Harvest C
hash
hash bucket
crunch
hash
octothorpe
thud
hash coding
hash collision
hash function
hashing
hash table