> ron wrote: >> in the US, # is a symbol for weight, not currency. > > I didn't know that; I assumed it was only > used for ordinal numbering (as in Item #3). > > # How do you write out, with a quick symbol, "I'm going to >> buy 3# of potatoes?
This - #3 - means Number 3 This - 3# - means 3 pounds in weight. This is the true reason why (most) Americans call it a pound sign. Back in the days of typewriters when the key change may have been a reason, most Americans did not type. (That was for secretary women ;-) Sometimes you will see the "pound sign" on old, old recipes, but it is not used anymore. Only a novelty now. In fact, most English teachers in America are young enough now that using the # sign for pound will generate a syntax error. (that usage has been deprecated) They've all upgraded to the new version of English. English v1900.1001.2.2 or something like that. ;-) > Assuming that "you" is us Brits, then: > > 3lb That is the official way in America also. But technically (as I learned in some Physics courses) it's supposed to be succeeded by '.' whereas metric units are NOT. Picky, picky people, aren't they? sigh. Jacob S. _______________________________________________ Tutor maillist - Tutor@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/tutor
