# People who think using the ligature "æ" makes them look smart are wankers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 21, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219 "2008-03-21T14:10:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/21 "2008-03-21T15:52:20Z")
Hæ guys! ---
**Author:** ![svrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@svrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svrider)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/22 "2008-03-21T16:00:58Z")
I and pretty much the rest of the 5 million wankers here in Denmark have æ on our keyboards. I don’t use it to look smart though, that is what ø and å are for. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/23 "2008-03-21T16:08:43Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] As you are here. What were the circumstances behind this pitting? [/QUOTE] This horrible spellular atrocity has been slowly smoldering in the dark depths of furious anger in my blackened heart ever since I got my first Encyclop **æ** dia Britannica as a young lad. But this morning (I forgot where) someone on this very board decided he just had to write “h **æ** mophilia” for no good reason. WHERE DOES IT END, I ASK YOU? I AM NOT AN ANIMAL. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/24 "2008-03-21T16:11:14Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] … my blackened heart … [/QUOTE] Admitting you have a problem is the first step toward recovery. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/25 "2008-03-21T16:12:24Z")
And here I thought I’d be cool by trying to resurrect [Thorn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_%28letter%29) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/26 "2008-03-21T16:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] This horrible spellular atrocity has been slowly smoldering in the dark depths of furious anger in my blackened heart ever since I got my first Encyclop **æ** dia Britannica as a young lad. But this morning (I forgot where) someone on this very board decided he just had to write “h **æ** mophilia” for no good reason. WHERE DOES IT END, I ASK YOU? I AM NOT AN ANIMAL. [/QUOTE] Without a link, I feel silly defending it, but maybe the poster did a cut and paste from something he was reading. I have never seen it spelled that way before, but it appears to be accurate. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/27 "2008-03-21T16:18:36Z")
The OP must be talking about [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9599833&postcount=10) post which admittedly annoyed me too, but not all that much. To continue the hijack. I use ± (alt-0177), ° (alt-0176) and µ (alt-0181) enough to have memorized them. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/28 "2008-03-21T16:21:51Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] The OP must be talking about [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9599833&postcount=10) post which admittedly annoyed me too, but not all that much. [/QUOTE] That’s the one. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/29 "2008-03-21T16:24:21Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Without a link, I feel silly defending it. [/QUOTE] I’d find it for you, but the særch function is broken. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/30 "2008-03-21T16:34:24Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Get a dictionary published this century, assface. That shit isn’t even on a standard keyboard. You must have gone to a lot of trouble to type an obsolete character that nobody uses. Get over yourselves, fuckbuckets. That is all. [/QUOTE] Don’t be an æsshole 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/31 "2008-03-21T16:49:10Z")
Woohoo! Now I can look smært too! Or perhaps like a wænker. I’m not suræ which. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/32 "2008-03-21T16:49:38Z")
[QUOTE=svrider] I don’t use it to look smart though, that is what ø and å are for. [/QUOTE] That, and for discussing møøse related subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/33 "2008-03-21T17:04:11Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] That, and for discussing møøse related subjects. [/QUOTE] A Møøse once bit my sister … ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/34 "2008-03-21T17:05:24Z")
It’s a standard key on my keyboard… ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/35 "2008-03-21T17:07:25Z")
[QUOTE=hajario] To continue the hijack. I use ± (alt-0177), ° (alt-0176) and µ (alt-0181) enough to have memorized them. [/QUOTE] Are you me? Because those are the same 3 I have memorized. Admit it, you work with capacitors all day. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/36 "2008-03-21T17:07:28Z")
Sadly, the correct spelling for my son’s first name is Ædin, but I don’t enforce it, as it is too cumbersome for most people. There’s a subtle distinction in the pronounciation of æ and ae, and I like the difference for his name. Wæk rant, but +10 for letting it get hijacked to remind me of the code for ½ – I have to look that up all the fricking time, and I finally thought to write it down. So, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/37 "2008-03-21T17:08:21Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Same. I also know Alt+0169 is ©. [/QUOTE] And alt 0174 is ® Hi OpÅl ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Socks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Captain\_Socks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Socks)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/38 "2008-03-21T17:09:03Z")
[QUOTE=Ponder Stibbons] Perhaps, but Ælfræd was _Great_. [/QUOTE] I think you mean græt. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/39 "2008-03-21T17:13:20Z")
For some reason (and for some reason ALT 0230 does nothin’ for me), when someone from Brooklyn uses the word “wanker” to refer to someone else, it makes them look like a, well, wanker. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/40 "2008-03-21T17:15:41Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] Sadly, the correct spelling for my son’s first name is Ædin, but I don’t enforce it, as it is too cumbersome for most people. [/QUOTE] You are a wanker for giving your son a stupid name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219.md?page=3)