words

[SingleEffort]

What is the correct name for a � sign?

[Quizmonster]

In this country, it is simply called 'the pound sign' or 'the pound sterling sign'. The '�' is just a stylised version of the letter 'L', which comes from the Latin word 'libra'. You could, I suppose, call it a 'libra' but nobody ever does.

Be careful of using the phrase 'pound sign' if you are dealing with Americans, though, since for them this...#...is a pound sign! There, it relates to pounds in weight, as they have no pound in their currency, of course.

I hope this is not one of those questions which misuses the word 'correct'. For example, people keep asking: "What is the correct name for the @ sign?" The answer is: the at sign! The French call it an arobase, the Polish call it a monkey and the Israelis call it a snail, none of which alters the fact that what we correctly call it is 'the at sign'.

[FTVS]

ah ha! so that's why the abbreviation for Pound weight (in the uk) is "lb"!