# Do other languages use '&' ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752 "2005-12-22T04:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752/41 "2005-12-24T08:20:30Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > # is a real pain… we say ‘number sign’ in Canada, but more and more often hear ‘pound sign’ because of US-based phone-response systems that say ‘press pound’ instead of ‘press number sign’. In French it’s often called the carré - the square - but I greatly prefer the term dièse, meaning sharp (as in music). It’s so charming! Like you want the star to be a flattened b instead. > [@minor7flat5](#): > > That French thingy isn’t limited to French. Try Portuguese: coração And Catalan: _enllaç_. It was used in old Spanish too (whence the name: _cedilla_, “little Z”, from _ceta_ or _zeta_, “z”), but was finally replaced by z. There is a cedilla-like dewey in Czech or something too that isn’t actually a cedilla at all, but a comma, of all things. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752/42 "2005-12-24T08:21:54Z")
> [@severus](#): > > The French guillemets are smaller than what **elmwood** showed. They are « and », not \<\< and \>\>. As far as I know, you’re correct: French uses « text » while German uses » text «. I though German used ,text". ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752/43 "2005-12-24T09:17:25Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Apparently, outside English, @ was next to unknown before e-mail came along. In French, there’s still confusion whether to call it “a commercial” or “arobas.” What was it used for before e-mails? ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752/44 "2005-12-24T10:05:22Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I though German used ,text". This is my understanding as well, I had a few years of high school German with a native speaker & that’s what she used. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752/45 "2005-12-24T11:38:56Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > What was it used for before e-mails? In England, it was used to denote unit prices, e.g. 12 bottles of light ale @ 7d. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752/46 "2005-12-25T16:44:23Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > There is a cedilla-like dewey in Czech or something too that isn’t actually a cedilla at all, but a comma, of all things. I think that’s in Romanian. > [@](#): > > I though German used ,text". I don’t know German, so it’s possible, but I also remember reading that German used inverted French guillemets to denote quotes. Maybe some German-speaking doper ( **tschild** , **Schnitte**?) will come and set us straight. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752/47 "2005-12-25T19:04:27Z")
> [@severus](#): > > I don’t know German, so it’s possible, but I also remember reading that German used inverted French guillemets to denote quotes. Maybe some German-speaking doper ( **tschild** , **Schnitte**?) will come and set us straight. In German the usage in bookprint and newsprint is mostly „…“, i.e. opening the quote with U+201E and closing with U+201C. A mnemonic for that is 99-66. But the "double inward-pointing guillemets »…« are also to be found - both styles are approved by the _Duden_ guidelines for typography. On typewriters and mostly also in wordprocessing straight double quotes (U+0022) are used [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-languages-use/336752.md?page=2)