[jcr1488]

> Holding `CTRL` essentially lops off the first three bits

No, it inverts the 7th bit (or subtracts 64).

The Linux `ascii(7)` man page has a similar table, but with 2 columns. The first 32 control characters listed there have their "caret notation" character in the opposite column.

[nothrabannosir]

Is this why the symbol for Ctrl is also commonly the symbol for xor?!

[jcr1488]

I'm not sure. I think the caret is just a prefix to make it distinguishable from the normal letters.

It is the reason why Ctrl+i in a terminal is the same as Tab though. Likewise for Ctrl+m == Enter.

[midgetjones]

Thanks! Listen to this person ^