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Discussion Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: Cbsteffen on October 07, 2018, 02:45:07 pm

Title: Have You Ever Confused the Musical Sharp Sign with the Octothorpe?
Post by: Cbsteffen on October 07, 2018, 02:45:07 pm

Some (if not many) people think that the hashtag/number/pound sign (aka octothorpe) is exclusively called the sharp sign in music because of strong resemblance. I used to. How did I discover that the sharp sign is a different (and likely unrelated) symbol? I looked up images for the sharp sign and hashtag/number/pound sign and observed the signs carefully and juxtaposed them. It turns out that the sharp sign looks sort of like a mirror image of the hashtag/number/pound sign as I saw. The sharp sign gets its appearance out of being based on a square-shaped lower case “b.” The flat sign comes from that letter  because that sign is probably supposed to stand for “bemolle” (which means “flat” in Italian as a musical term). I don’t know the origin of the hashtag/number/pound sign.

Title: Re: Have You Ever Confused the Musical Sharp Sign with the Octothorpe?
Post by: oldbuddy on October 07, 2018, 04:29:15 pm

I have always relied in where it is seen to determine the true meaning. It is rare to see the sharp sign in a Tweet without it being attached to a musical notation or to see a hashtag on a sheet of music.

Title: Re: Have You Ever Confused the Musical Sharp Sign with the Octothorpe?
Post by: UGetPaid on October 09, 2018, 08:37:02 am

All I know is that either one can be used for a highly competitive game of tic-tac-toe! ;D