Chapter 1
Wardrobe and wearable wonders
Chapter 2
Hidden anatomy of the human body
Chapter 3
Household items and design details
Chapter 4
Symbols, typography, and text
YOUR GOAL
Master of Secret names of everyday things
Ch 4 · Symbols, typography, and text
schopenhauer The symbol commonly known as the pound sign, hash, or hashtag is officially called an octothorpe.
schopenhauer The mathematical division symbol consisting of a horizontal line with dots above and below is an obelus.
BETA
schopenhauer Match quirky names to everyday objects to discover the secret history of common things.
Fun Fact
The tittle: The phrase 'jot or tittle' comes from the Bible, referring to the smallest Hebrew letter (yodh) and tiny pen strokes.
Glossary
octothorpe (noun)
The typographical symbol #, used to represent a number or pound weight. Bell Labs employees coined the term in the 1960s when introducing the symbol to telephone keypads.
The typographical symbol #, used to represent a number or pound weight. Bell Labs employees coined the term in the 1960s when introducing the symbol to telephone keypads.
Quiz
What is the typographic name for the dot over the lowercase letters 'i' and 'j'?