17 Common Things You Never Knew The Name Of

6. A hashtag (#) is actually called an ‘Octothorp’

Back in 1968, a group of workers working at the Bell Telephone Laboratories needed a name for the # symbol on the telephone keypad. This symbol was used for additional features other than just dialing a number, like speed-dialing or redirecting, but had no name yet. They came up with the name ‘octothorp’. ‘Octo’ means ‘eight’, referring to the eight ends. The reason for the ‘thorp’ is disputed, with some believing it is named after an old word for town or village, because it looked similar to one according to the person coming up with the word ‘octothorp’.

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