The [m-w.com] Word of the Day for November 9 is:
octothorpe \AHK-tuh-thorp\ noun
: the symbol #
Example sentence:
Barry noticed the pound sign on the telephone and remarked
about how much the octothorpe resembled a tic-tac-toe grid.
Did you know?
Stories abound about who first called the # sign an
"octothorpe" (which can also be spelled "octothorp"). Most of those
tales link the name to various telephone workers in the 1960s, and all
claim the "octo-" part refers to the eight points on the symbol, but
the "thorpe" remains a mystery. One story links it to a telephone
company employee who happened to burp while talking about the symbol
with co-workers. Another relates it to the athlete Jim Thorpe, and a
third claims it derives from an Old English word for "village." If the
plethora of theories leaves your head spinning, you might want to take
the advice of the wag who asked (poetically), "Can we simply just say,
/ Ere it spoils your day, / It's the thorp between seven and nine?"
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