# Latest observed knowledge cultural gap: the pound key **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517 "2008-02-28T16:20:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/1 "2008-02-28T16:20:22Z")
1. Which key on the telephone keypad is often referred to as the “pound key”? 2. If your answer to 1) is “I don’t know,” looking at the keypad which key would you guess it was? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/2 "2008-02-28T16:26:33Z")
#. Never heard anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/3 "2008-02-28T16:29:31Z")
# (grr. message too short) ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/4 "2008-02-28T16:31:35Z")
What gap? I don’t think I’ve met anyone who didn’t know that # was the pound key. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/5 "2008-02-28T16:37:44Z")
[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy] What gap? I don’t think I’ve met anyone who didn’t know that # was the pound key. [/QUOTE] I get a lot of Spanish-speaking customers who, I can tell from the phone display, are hitting the star key instead of the pound key. That I attribute mostly to a language barrier. But more and more lately I’ve been getting native English speakers who are making the same mistake. When I use the term “pound key” they have no idea what I mean. They do tend to understand “tic-tac-toe board” however. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/6 "2008-02-28T16:39:38Z")
What else would you call the # key besides the pound key? The \* key I usually hear refered to as the star key but I guess you could call it the asterisk key. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/7 "2008-02-28T16:45:34Z")
Yeah, it’s still pretty much the standard name. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/8 "2008-02-28T16:45:52Z")
i’ve never even heard the term “pound key”. If asked to name the # key I would say it was the hash key. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/9 "2008-02-28T16:50:22Z")
The preferred nomenclature is octothorpe 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/10 "2008-02-28T16:55:57Z")
Why “octothorpe?” There’s no “octo” anywhere near it. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/11 "2008-02-28T16:56:38Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] Yeah, it’s still pretty much the standard name. [/QUOTE] …in American English. As **One And Only Wanderers** says, the standard name in British English is something else. Not least because ‘pound key’ for us sounds like you mean shift+3 on a UK-layout keyboard, producing ‘£’ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/12 "2008-02-28T16:58:23Z")
In North America, most people seem to have no trouble identifying the pound key on a phone. It’s used all the time when navigating through automated phone systems like voicemail menus or teleconference logins. I use it so often that the little design is starting to wear off the key. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/13 "2008-02-28T17:02:25Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] Why “octothorpe?” There’s no “octo” anywhere near it. [/QUOTE] I always figured it was because there are eight ends coming out from the central rectangle. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/14 "2008-02-28T17:11:55Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] The preferred nomenclature is octothorpe 🙂 [/QUOTE] That’s just as made-up as anything else. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/15 "2008-02-28T17:16:40Z")
I’m used to pound key, but I’ve also heard it called the number key. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/16 "2008-02-28T17:18:59Z")
It’s the tic-tac-toe key. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/17 "2008-02-28T17:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] That’s just as made-up as anything else. [/QUOTE] Well, you can say that about literally any word. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/18 "2008-02-28T17:29:13Z")
Pound key actually seems to be used more and more often, contrary to what I think the OP is suggesting, but some people call it the number key, since it’s often used to designate a number: Number 4, No. 4, #4. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/19 "2008-02-28T17:29:26Z")
[QUOTE=UncaStuart] I always figured it was because there are eight ends coming out from the central rectangle. [/QUOTE] [Correct.](http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-oct1.htm) It has eight points. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517/20 "2008-02-28T17:52:48Z")
In medical settings, “#” is used for pounds (in the US, at least). As in, “Weight down 5#.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latest-observed-knowledge-cultural-gap-the-pound-key/439517.md?page=2)