Pound sign (was Re: the Telephone Test)

[Robert C. White Jr.]

in article <147 at ixi.UUCP>, clive at ixi.UUCP (Clive) says:
[drawing deleted]
> is a "number" sign or a "hash" sign. It is NOT repeat NOT a pound sign.
> A pound sign is what appears on a five pound note, and looks like:
[drawing deleted]
> (or some more ornate version). How would you like it if I kept
> saying:
[stuff about curency deleted... incidently *we* use dollar sign
all the time "$"...]

Wrong-o! the "#" has a real name: octalthorpe <even if i cant spell
it this phonetic representation should do> it is also *correctly*
called the "number sign" and "pound sign".

Just because you (culutrally) have chosen to use a strange unit
name for your currency dson't mean that every refrence to that
unit refres to your curency.  The symbol you inaccurately claim
to mean "pound" is (more correctly) "pound sterling" or "british
pound", there are less spesific uses of "pound" then the britsh
(extraction?) currency [e.g. a ten pound bag of sugar, four pounds
of this, 22000 punds of that].

Where ever units of weight (not spesifically related to currency)
are being discussed in the "english" system [i think that is the real
name] the symbol "#" MEANS POUND!

Rob.

(pet peves based on inaccuracy are just stoopid)