Fun facts about common keyboard symbols (2023)

Ampersand & (Y)

The typographical symbol used to denote the word and (&) is the Latin symbol foretthat means ______________Y. The name is believed to be derived from the phrase ampersandand per se and.

On a keyboard with a standard English layout, it is accessed with the ampersand (&) sign.capa+7. In many fonts, the ampersand looks like an italic S or curvy plus sign, but in other fonts you can almost make out the word Et in the ampersand design.

The ampersand is a form ofis tiedbecause it combines two characters in one.

Apostrophe ' (prima, simple comillas)

The apostrophe (') is a punctuation mark that indicates the omission of one or more letters. The phraseI would not do itbecomes a contractionI would not do itwhere the apostrophe indicates the lack of o. InGovernment, a short form ofGovernment, the apostrophe indicates that several letters are missing.

The apostrophe is used for some plural forms and possessive pronouns: 5er (plural) or Jills (possessive pronoun)

The glyph used for the apostrophe can vary depending on the type of document. In typed or plain (plain) text, the apostrophe is usually a single straight mark (') upright (or slightly slanted). On a standard QWERTY keyboard, the key for this bookmark is between the semicolon and ENTER.

In properly placed material, a curl orApostrophe setis the correct glyph (') to use. This is the same character that is used as a right or closed quote when using single quotes. It varies by font, but generally looks like a comma, except it's above the baseline.

On a Mac, use Shift+Option+] for a curved apostrophe. Use for WindowsALT 0146(holdAlt keyand enter the numbers on the numeric keypad). In HTML, encode the character as & #0146; for '.

The same key that is used to type an apostrophe (the only straight mark) is used for arowing. This is a mathematical symbol used to indicate a division into parts, mainly feet or minutes.

The straight apostrophe is often used for single quotes in unsolicited material (such as emails or web pages). The joint apostrophe is also one half of a pair of characters used for single quotes. There is a left single quote and a right single quote.

Asterisk * (star, times)

An asterisk is a star-like symbol (*) used in literature, mathematics, computer science, and many other fields. The asterisk can indicate a placeholder, repetitions, notations, multiplications (times), and footnotes.

On the English standard layout keyboard, the asterisk is used to access it.capa+8. On a telephone keypad it is commonly known asPopa.

In some fonts, the asterisk is in superscript or smaller than other symbols. It can appear as three crossed lines, two diagonals and one horizontal, or two diagonals and one vertical, or a variation.

At the @ sign (respectively)

The at sign (@) means any (or each), at, or any at, as in "Three magazines for five dollars" (3 magazines would cost $5 each, or $15 total). The at sign is also now a required part of all email addresses on the Internet. The character is a combination (ligature) of a and e.

In French, an at sign means petit escargot - little snail. On the standard English keyboard is the at signcapa+2.

Guión - – — (guión, guión en, guión em)

It's not a script; dash is a short line used as a punctuation mark, often represented by one or more dashes.

The shortest hyphen, the hyphen

Ascriptis a short punctuation mark used to join words (for example, well-read or expert) and to separate syllables in a single word or characters in a phone number (123-555-0123).

The dash is the non-caps key between 0 and +/= on a standard keyboard. Dashes are typically shorter and thicker than hyphens, though they can vary by font, and the difference can be hard to tell depending on the font. - - -

the short dash

The hyphen is slightly longer than a hyphen.Towardto the width of the lower casenortein the font it is set to. Dashes (–) are used primarily to indicate duration or range, as in 9:00–5:00 or 112–600 or 15–31. March. Informally, a hyphen often represents a proper hyphen.

Create scripts withoption script(Mac) etcALT 0150(Windows) - press and holdAlt keyand type0150on the numeric keypad. Create HTML scripts with – (ampersand without space, number sign 0150 semicolon). Or use the Unicode number unit of & #8211; (there is no place).

the long line

The em dash is often written as a pair of hyphens and is slightly longer than an en dash:Towardto the width of the lower caseMETROin the font it is set to. Similar to a bracketed sentence (like this one), the hyphen separates clauses in a sentence or can be used to provide a break for emphasis.

Create em dashes with Shift-Option-Hyphen (Mac) or ALT 0151 (Windows): Hold down ALT and type 0151 on the numeric keypad. Create them scripts inHTMLwith & #0151; (ampersand without space, number sign 0151 semicolon). Or use the Unicode number unit of & #8212; (there is no place).

dollar sign $

The dollar sign is a symbol that looks like a capital S with one or two vertical lines inside. It represents the currency in the US and some other countries and is also used in computer programming.

Many sources say that Oliver Pollack is in charge of the United States.ps(dollar) symbol. It seems his version of the abbreviation for pesos was a bit hard to crack, and when the US needed a symbol to represent our money, the $ won the bid. Pollack doesn't always get the credit. Other possible origins include the derivation of the mint mark on Spanish pieces of eight, or from a symbol for vermilion, or from a symbol on a Roman coin. The $ symbol is also used as currency in some countries other than the United States.

One line or two? Usually written with a vertical bar ($), it is sometimes seen with two parallel bars. Another currency symbol, the cipher, uses two lines and closely resembles the dollar sign. In some fonts, the line is written as an en dash at the top and bottom of the S, rather than a solid line through the character, as seen in the $ symbol for Courier New.

The $ symbol represents more than money. It is also used in a variety of programming languages ​​to represent strings, newlines, special characters, etc. On a standard keyboard, access the $ symbol by typing Shift+4.

On a standard English keyboard, the dollar sign is Shift+4.

exclamation! and exclamation point inverted

The exclamation mark (!) is a punctuation mark used in English and other languages ​​to indicate an exclamation such as extreme happiness, screaming, or surprise. For example: wow! Incredible! Brilliant! Stop jumping on the bed right now!

Use exclamation points sparingly in text. Multiple brands like "Good Grief!!!!!" they are not for standard use.

The character used as an exclamation was originally spelled IO, a Latin word meaning exclamation or expression of joy.

There are two widely accepted theories about the origin of the exclamation point:

1. The writers saved space by placing the I over the O, and the O eventually became a full period.
2. It was originally written as an O with a slash, but the O eventually disappeared and the remaining slash became the current exclamation point.

Various slang terms for the symbol include Bang, Pling, Smash, Soldier, Control, and Screamer.

The exclamation mark is also used in some mathematical and computer programming languages.

He ! it's on a standard keyboardcapa+1.

The reverse exclamation (¡) is a punctuation mark used in some languages ​​such as Spanish. Exclamations are used to frame an exclamatory statement, with the reversed or inverted exclamation at the beginning and the normal exclamation at the end! .I saw the movie last night. What a shock!

There is Alt/ASCII code: ALT 173 or ALT 0161.

Pound sign # (round sign, hash)

The # symbol is known as the number sign or pound sign (not to be confused with the pound symbol denoting currency) or hash in various countries.

On a telephone keypad, it is known as the pound (US) key or hash key in most English-speaking countries.

If # comes before a number, it is aNumberas in #1 (number 1). If it follows a number, it's aLibra(unit of weight) as in 3# (three pounds) (mostly US)

Other names for the # are Hex and Octothorp. # can be used in computer programming, mathematics, web pages (for example, as shorthand for a blog's permalink or to indicate a special tag such asHashtags en Twitter), chess and drafting. The three pound symbols (###) often indicate "the end" in press releases or typed manuscripts.

On standard US keyboards, the # key is Shift+3. It may be in other places in other countries. Mac:Possibility+3. Ventana:alternative+35

Although the musical notation for sharps (♯) looks similar, it is not the same as the number sign. The pound sign usually consists of 2 (usually) horizontal bars and 2 oblique bars. Whereas the cross consists of 2 vertical lines and 2 sloping lines so that it appears to be leaning to the left while the number sign is more upright or sloping to the right.

Quotes " (Double hyphen, double quotes)

Quotation marks are usually a pair of symbols used at the beginning and end of word-for-word quoted text, dialogue (for example, in a book), and around the titles of some short works. The specific style of quotation marks varies by language or country. The character described here is the double quote or the double hyphen.

On a standard keyboard, the symbol " (capa+') is often referred to as double quotes. This is also a double hyphen used to indicate inches and seconds (see also hyphen). In typography, these straight double quotes are often called dummy quotes when used as quotation marks.

Properly composed material turns into silly quotescurly quotesor quotes from typographers. Converting to smart quotes uses two separate characters: double left (open) quotes " and right double (closed) quotes ". They slant or curve (in opposite directions), whereas the regular quote or double hyphen usually goes up and down.

Use on a MacOption+[ Ycapa+Option+[ for left and right double quotes. use for windowsALT 0147YALT 0148for left and right double quotes (curved quotes).

Slash / (slash) \ (slash)

Technically, the punctuation marks known as the slash are slightly different and are used differently. In today's language, however, they are used as synonyms. Various forms of this slash punctuation mark are used as separators, word substitutes, for mathematical expressions, and in web addresses (URLs or Uniform Resource Locators).

There is the forward slash or forward slash (/) on a standard keyboard layout (usually a key shares the question mark?). You can also use ALT+47 for the same character. It is also called hyphen, virgula or diagonal.

The solidus (⁄) generally leans a little more forward than the slash. It is also known as the fraction bar or inline fraction bar or division bar due to its use in mathematical expressions. In some fonts you can find characters like:

• Solidus or Fullwidth Solidus (slash) /
• solid short ̷
• Langer Solidus ̸
• split bar ∕

In most cases, it is acceptable to use the forward slash on the keyboard.

• 11/4/58 (one date)
• 150 mi./sec (miles per second)
• he/she (or)
• 1/4 (a quarter)
• https://www.lifewire.com/sam-costello-1998859 (web address)

The reverse bar or backslash is an inverted solidus. The trailing solidus (\) is most commonly used as a path separator in Windows as in C:\Programs\Adobe\InDesign and as a character in some programming languages ​​such as Perl. The inverted solidus is also known as the inverted division sign, although this usage is rare.

On a standard US keyboard, \ shares a key with | (pipe/pipe - Shift+\) to the end of the row of QWERTY keys. You can also use ALT+92 for the same character.