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Stephen wrote:
>> What do you call "*"?
> Asterisk
Nathan Hale
<character> An asterisk ("*", see also splat, ASCII).
Notionally, from "I regret that I have only one asterisk for
my country!" ("life to give" -> "ass to risk" -> "asterisk"),
a misquote of the famous remark uttered by Nathan Hale just
before he was hanged. Hale was a (failed) spy for the rebels
in the American War of Independence.
--
Tim Cook
http://empyrean.freesitespace.net
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On 8 Oct 2009 15:53:37 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospam com> wrote:
>
>I've heard it called "Star", "Asterisk" and "Splat". I tend to use the
>first, but I kinda like the last.
Yes star dot star in computer/telephone speak. Asterisk when talking literature.
English is fun and easy :)
Splot! Away an boil yer heid :P
<bloody yanks, take a perfectly good language and marmalise it > :-)
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:14:34 -0400, Tim Cook <z99### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>Stephen wrote:
>>> What do you call "*"?
>> Asterisk
>
>Nathan Hale
>
> <character> An asterisk ("*", see also splat, ASCII).
> Notionally, from "I regret that I have only one asterisk for
> my country!" ("life to give" -> "ass to risk" -> "asterisk"),
> a misquote of the famous remark uttered by Nathan Hale just
> before he was hanged. Hale was a (failed) spy for the rebels
> in the American War of Independence.
LOL it's not from "asteriscum" latin for little star, then?
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:43:45 +0200, andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
>> Interestingly, the USA /almost/ went for German as their national
>> language (because they had difficulties agreeing on either English or
>> French, AFAIK :-P)
>
>In my recollection it was Dutch not German. Motivation a.o. that the
>Dutch 'Acte van Verlatinghe' was a huge inspiration for the Declaration
>of Independence anyway. IIRC the red, white and blue in the American
>flag are also inspired by our national flag. yet, IANAH.
That's my memory too and it was a native Dutch speaker who cast the final vote.
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:25:56 +0100, Stephen wrote:
> On 8 Oct 2009 15:53:37 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>
>
>>I've heard it called "Star", "Asterisk" and "Splat". I tend to use the
>>first, but I kinda like the last.
>
> Yes star dot star in computer/telephone speak. Asterisk when talking
> literature. English is fun and easy :)
:-)
> Splot! Away an boil yer heid :P
>
> <bloody yanks, take a perfectly good language and marmalise it > :-)
We made it efficient - got rid of all those extra vouweuls. ;-)
Jim
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On 8 Oct 2009 16:38:58 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>We made it efficient - got rid of all those extra vouweuls. ;-)
True! LMAO
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:53:02 +0100, Stephen wrote:
> On 8 Oct 2009 16:38:58 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>
>>We made it efficient - got rid of all those extra vouweuls. ;-)
>
> True! LMAO
Though you may have noticed that I often tend to spell words the British
way. I realise that it's important to write to my intended audience. ;-)
Jim
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On 8 Oct 2009 17:02:51 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>Though you may have noticed that I often tend to spell words the British
>way. I realise that it's important to write to my intended audience. ;-)
And so it is :)
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Thu, 08 Oct 2009 22:12:36 +0100, Stephen wrote:
> On 8 Oct 2009 17:02:51 -0400, Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>
>>Though you may have noticed that I often tend to spell words the British
>>way. I realise that it's important to write to my intended audience.
>>;-)
>
> And so it is :)
Which is why I don't use SMS much. ;-)
Jim
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Darren New schrieb:
> clipka wrote:
>> where we'd replace some rarely-used characters with the German umlauts,
>
> I'm pretty sure this is why Americans call "#" the "pound sign." It's on
> the keyboard in the same place the Brits put their currency marker.
Indeed. As a matter of fact, just like the Germans used a variation of
the ASCII code, so did the British, using the "#" code point for their
currency sign.
I'm pretty sure the origin of calling "#" the "pound sign" was from
Americans being unaware that the Brits, when talking about that code
point, were actually talking about a totally different symbol.
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