Stephan G

Something to consider:

https://www.gocomics.com/9-chickweed-lane-classics/2022/01/19

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

By "Pound Sign" does he mean '#' or '£'? If he means '#' I prefer the word "Octothorpe" (q.v.)

The "At Symbol" (@) has a lot of different names in different regions of the world. Some of them interesting. https://www.webopedia.com/insights/at-symbol/

There's not a lot of difference between "Star" and "Asterisk" (which is derived from latin, meaning 'little star').

The Ampersand has an interesting etymology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampersand

The "Exclamation Mark", sometimes called "Exclamation Point", is used in different ways as a warning or to denote negation (in some computer languages).

Stephan G

For Comic Strip vulgar, a conglomerate #@*&! is a visual insert to indicate the usage of language that may tinge sensitive ears. (Generally of the rather anal-retentive types.) In many instances, these are often presented in BOLD type.


From Wikipedia:

An exclamation mark (!) is a punctuation mark. It is used to show strong emotion at the end of a sentence or after an interjection.[1]

Putting a space before an exclamation mark is incorrect.

In coding, "!" sometimes means not. In mathematics, the use of an exclamation mark can be used for the factorial function (for example, n !) .

# is the play "board" for Tic-Tac-Toe. The Octo is, of course, for the eight points. Thorpe is still unidentified. No one seems to have stood up to present a claim. It is also referred to as "hashtag". In some circles, potatoes get involved.

Asterisk is the chance you take touching a pretty wild flower, hoping that it is an aster, indeed.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

The silent movies they just used the word "curses" in the caption and left it up to your imagination to supply anything from a mild "darn" to a full blown atom bomb that would "make a sailor blush" as they used to say.

Fogman Loc: Fields Landing, California

If it's dangerous, and I give something some thought, I always remember that I only have one * (a** to risk) .

Stephan G

I recalled reading somewhere that when those captions came on screen, many in the audience would provide their version of curses. I remember the "boos" and "hisses" ringing out when the villains made their appearance on screen.