[hackerbabz]

Do you correct people when they say “back slash” when reading out a url? When it’s actually a forward slash?

Is there a name for this phenomenon? Everyone knows it’s a slash except when its used for something computery. Then it somehow becomes a backslash.

[bregma]

I have to suppress the urge to correct people both when they refer to it as a backslash and when they use the term "forward slash". I've already lost all my friends by being that guy; I don't need to also earn the enmity of random strangers on the internet.

But technically it's a solidus not a slash.

[jimmaswell]

Nothing is wrong with "forward slash.

[bregma]

"forward slash" vs. "forward backslash" would be more consistent.

[veltas]

I don't have an answer but it's exactly the same phenomenon as when people refer to '#' as a hash-tag.

[timoth3y]

Exactly. Everyone knows it's an octothorp.

[paulmooreparks]

Just don't call it "pound" when standing in Britain. :)

[veltas]

I live in Britain and don't have an issue with it, '#' is originally a symbol for pounds, a shorthand for 'lb', and we are used to the idea that pounds can mean weight, as well as our currency, so why not this symbol as well?

It's believed the 'pound' in pound sterling came from a pound of silver or silver coins in weight originally as well.

[chasd00]

i've just started calling it "shift 3". that seems to be the least confusing way to communicate the character haha

[dylan604]

Is it shift-3 on all keyboards? Maybe it is, but I've seen other keyboard layoutss where symbols are in different locations.

[pwinnski]

That will usually work in the US, but Shift-3 returns £ on keyboards configured for the UK!

[kbelder]

Is that related in any way to the fact that both symbols can be referred to as a 'pound' symbol, or is it a complete coincidence?

[veltas]

I believe it is related to them both being called 'pound', and it is very annoying. The two are not the same symbol, I don't know why they equivocated them. Technically in a distant root they are related, but they are distinct in usage and meaning.

[marcosdumay]

I'm content because that character finally has a name that people will recognize.

But confusing the name of the two slashes (how come?) has the exact opposite effect, so I don't like it.

[hackerbabz]

That's not the same at all. Hash-tag is just a name for that symbol. It's not the original name, but it is a name. "/" is slash! "\" is a backslash! People who do not type windows paths have probably never actually encountered a backslash in their entire lives, but when they see a url they think that the symbol they see all the time in other contexts (/) suddenly has a different name!

[veltas]

A 'hash-tag' is a feature of internet apps like Twitter where you put a '#' in front of some topic name to relate your content with similar content. It's named after the character which is known as a 'hash' among other things.

Or are you saying 'hash-tag' is the name because although it's a mistake it's used so much now it's considered language?

Language isn't one big blob, even though among many people it could now be considered an alternative pronunciation, and eventually it could be adopted even in places where people would otherwise know better, right now among people in tech and certainly on this site 'hash-tag' to mean the character is incorrect and confusing.

[hackerbabz]

But there isn’t another character that anyone calls “hashtag”. It’s like if everyone nontech called “:” a “semicolon” only when it’s preceeded by “http”. There is something else called semicolon and its not the thing in the url.

[dylan604]

I remember it being the number sign when first learning to type in school. I then heard it refered to as pound sign. And once I started into the dev world, it became the ubiqutous comment. Then my favorite became the shebang when paired with the friendly bang/exclamation/pling.

[lovegoblin]

What you mean the octothorpe?!

There are many valid names and usages for this symbol: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign#Names_of_the_chara...

[mbg721]

Or you can raise musicians' blood pressure by calling it a sharp-sign.

[vcanales]

everyone knows it's called 'tictactoe'

[chaorace]

Contextually, yes. Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn't. Same thing goes for the dash/underscore distinction. I imagine there must be similar grappling in the editor world between usages of dash vs. hyphen