Writing Tips: How to Use the Number Sign (#) - Proofed

The hash sign can be traced to a Roman unit of measure, the libra pondo (or “pound weight”). This was sometimes abbreviated to the symbol “℔,” ... Home WritingTips WritingTips:HowtoUsetheNumberSign(#) 3-minuteread 6thFebruary2020 WritingTips:HowtoUsetheNumberSign(#) Ifyouusesocialmedia,youprobablyknowthe“#”signorhashtag.Thissymbolhasseveralnames,includingthenumbersign,poundsign,hashsign,andoctothorpe.Butwheredoesitcomefrom?Howelseisitused?Andhowshouldyouuseitinyourwriting?Let’stakealook. TheHistoryoftheNumberSign ThehashsigncanbetracedtoaRomanunitofmeasure,thelibrapondo(or“poundweight”).Thiswassometimesabbreviatedtothesymbol“℔,”whichevolvedinto“#”bythenineteenthcentury.Bythispoint,itwaswidelyknownasa“numbersign”whenusedbeforeanumber: Pleaseanswerquestion#2. Pleaseanswerquestionnumbertwo. AndintheUSA,itisalsoknownasthe“poundsign.”Thisisbecausewesometimesuseittoindicateanimperialpoundwhenplacedafteranumber: Weneed2#ofbeefforthepie. Weneedtwopoundsofbeefforthepie. Findthisuseful? Subscribetoournewsletterandgetwritingtipsfromoureditorsstraighttoyourinbox. Youre-mailaddress Subscribe Thankyouforsubscribingtoournewsletter! OutsideNorthAmerica,however,“hashsign”and“numbersign”aremorecommon.Toabbreviatetheunitofmass,countriesliketheUKandAustraliausetheabbreviation“lb”instead. ModernUses Overtheyears,thehashsignhaspickedupseveralotheruses,including: Asaproofreadingmarkthatindicatestheneedtoinsertaspace. Inwritingmusic,asitlookssimilartoasharpnotebutiseasiertotype. Insertingcommentswithincodeinvariousprogramminglanguages. Asthenotation“###,”whichindicatestheendofapressrelease. Tocreatehashtagsonvarioussocialmediaplatforms. Thisfinaluseisprobablythemostcommonnowadays,asitallowspeopletoquicklyfindpostsonaspecificsubjectortheme(e.g.,#proofreading). WhentoUseaHashSigninYourWriting Itwouldbeunusualtoneedthehashornumbersigninformalwriting,suchasanessay.However,asdetailedabove,thissymbolhasseveralusesindifferentcontexts.Usingthehashsigntoreplacetheword“number”iscommoninlessformalwriting,soitisfinetouseitaslongas: You’recertainthereaderwillunderstandhowyou’reusingit. Itdoesn’tunderminetheformalityofthedocument. Ifyouwanttobe100%sureyou’reusingthissymbolcorrectly,though,itneverhurtstohaveyourwritingproofread.Wehaveexperteditorsreadytohelp,sowhynotsubmitadocumenttoday? Sharethisarticle: Linktofacebook Linktolinkedin Linktotwitter Signupforournewsletter Comments(0) Name Email PostANewComment ΔCancelreply Uploadadocument InstantQuote InstantQuote Needmorehelpperfectingyourwriting? Proofedhastheperfecteditor! GetAnInstantQuote InstantQuote Documentformat DOC DOCX PDF PPTX LaTeX XLSX GDOC TXT RTF GSHEET GSLIDES KEY PAGES Length Delivery Price GetStarted Youcanalsouploadadocumenttogetaninstantquote Drag&dropyourfile orbrowseyourcomputer Browsefromyourdevice Dropyourfilehere! Yourfileisbeinguploaded! MoreWritingTips? 18thOctober2022 6-minuteread HowToConstructanExcellentEssayin5Steps So,you’vebeengivenanessayquestionanddon’tknowwheretostart.Ormaybe... 17thOctober2022 3-minuteread WordChoice:Reedvs.Read Thewords‘reed’and‘read’arehomophones.Theymightsoundalikewhenspokenaloud,but... 16thOctober2022 3-minuteread 12FrenchWordsThatAreFalseFriends TheEnglishandtheFrenchhavealwayshadacomplicatedrelationship,andunfortunately,thesame... 15thOctober2022 2-minuteread SpellingTips:“WeatherorNot”vs“WhetherorNot” Confusedaboutweatherornotvswhetherornot?You’renotalone.Weatherandwhether... 14thOctober2022 3-minuteread AGuidetoExceptionsforConditionalEditors Conditionalsentencesdescribehypotheticalsituationsandtheiroutcomes.Theyincludeaconditionalclause,otherwiseknown... 13thOctober2022 3-minuteread 19ExamplesofNegations Loveitorhateit,Englishgrammarhasitsquirks.Learningtheinsandouts... ReadMoreOnOurBlog Trustedbythousandsofleading institutionsandbusinesses MakesureyourwritingisthebestitcanbewithourexpertEnglishproofreadingandediting. Let'sGetStarted.Tryforfree!