Re: [OT] When is a character a currency sign?

From: Anto'nio Martins-Tuva'lkin (antonio@tuvalkin.web.pt)
Date: Mon Jul 14 2003 - 18:30:07 EDT

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    On 2003.07.13, 00:19, Michael Everson <everson@evertype.com> wrote me
    off list, but the I guess this is marginally interesting for all:

    > At 21:54 +0100 2003-07-12, Anto'nio Martins-Tuva'lkin wrote:
    >
    >> This symbol is called in Portuguese "_cifrão_", and most people don't
    >> really know that it is also used for other currencies abroad.
    >
    > People don't know that it's used for the US dollar?

    Mostely, no, they do not -- or at least they do not notice it as such,
    though it is evident from TV and cinema, f.i.

    Actually, people do (or did) not saw that symbol as a _escudo_ sign, but
    rather as a common symbol for money and related subjects. (Meanwhile,
    the correct symbol for this semantics, U+00A4, is/was virtually unknown
    in Portugal.)

    A common joke is/was to replace "S" by "$", implying an accusation of
    greed or corruption -- the usual targets being the portuguese socialist
    and social-democratic parties: P.$. and P.$.D.

    And that symbol is always called "_cifrão_", never "_dólar_" OSLT, even
    among otherwise anglophile computer geeks.

    -- ____.
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    <antonio@tuvalkin.web.pt> |####|
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