Most of us who frequent the wide world of the Web know a thing or two about the various letters, numbers, and symbols that proudly display themselves on our computer keyboards. You probably know most of these characters by the old-fashioned, everyday names you learned in grade school: the exclamation mark, the asterisk, the number sign, and so on. But did you know that many of these symbols can be called something quite different?

I now present a veritable Tour de Web of some alternate names for those good old symbolic standbys, including a handy Keyboard Slang table. You’ll be an expert in no time: soon you’ll be able to fool the folks at Slashdot and have something fun to think about the next time you tell a friend about h-t-t-p colon whack whack codejacked dot com.

Once More, With Feeling

Some of the best character nicknames come from the worlds that use them most: computer programming and the grand old land of publishing —- you know, of actual books, with paper. The next time you’re bored with a simple exclamation point, why not call it a bang (for computers) or a screamer (for typesetters)? Or how about the star or splat (asterisk), the oh-so-commonplace whack (forward slash), or some useful fingernails (parentheses, like these)?

If you’ve ever beaten on a piñata or sipped a piña colada, you’ve probably run into the friendly Spanish tilde. But the next time you need one, you’ll know it can also be officially called a twiddle or squiggle. When writing those long pages of HTML code, single out a backslash as a slosh or a pair of angle brackets as chevrons. The next time you record your voicemail message, tell your friends to reach you at your extension by pressing the publisher-favorite octothorpe key on their phones (that’s #).

Get Your Brit On

If you need to talk punctuation, you can also break out your inner James Bond and hop over to Britain for some fun punctuation alternatives. Where pounds are money, that same old octothorpe is called a hash sign, and the dot or period is a full stop. Double quotes will become inverted commas in your quick trip across the pond, and regular old braces {like these} will be called curly brackets. And if you want to get really fancy, try calling that ever-present “whack” slash a virgule, slant, or oblique.

Cool To Go

Alas, not all of us can be James Bond. But for your reference, here are the rest of my findings on keyboard slang, organized for you in this handy little table. This is by no means a complete list: feel free to add to, discuss, and/or ridicule the following names. You may never look at a keyboard the same way again!

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