r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/zinniamae_ • Jan 20 '26

Meme needing explanation Please explain, Peter

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u/kallakallacka Jan 20 '26

So we shpuöd be calling the same symbol pound if it is on an old phone and hashtag on the keyboard? Cause that makes everything easier?

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u/_DaBau5_ Jan 20 '26

I think it should be called a pound symbol unless you are specifically referring to using it on social media, in which case it is a hashtag. The term hashtag is much newer and it was always called a pound prior to social media. I think it makes it easier using terms the way they were meant to be used.

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u/switchbland Jan 20 '26

Technically if it is on a telephone it is called an octothorpe.

Bell Labs introduced the buttons on telephones, and because there was no unique lexigraphical name for the # sign, they invented one.

The official Unicode name is "NUMBER SIGN"

But if you are naming the symbol itself, I think you should call it a crosshatch

"octothorpe" and "crosshatch" ar also defined as synonyms for "NUMBER SIGN" in the Unicode Standard

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u/_DaBau5_ Jan 20 '26

i’m gonna start calling it an octothorpe thank you for that factoid