# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/81 "2008-03-22T02:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] ˙sɹǝʇɔɐɹɐɥɔ lɐıɔǝds ǝɹnɔsqo ɹnoʎ ɥʇıʍ 'sɹǝʞuɐʍ snoıʇuǝʇǝɹd ɟo ɥɔunq ɐ ʇsnɾ llɐ ǝɹ,noʎ [/QUOTE] Ok smartarse… 😃 How’dja do that then? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/82 "2008-03-22T03:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=Koxinga] I think it’s pretty wankerish to name somebody using IPA phonetic notation instead of English letters. [/QUOTE] I see two possibilities for non-wankerdom in this case: 1. **Litoris** is, in fact, a phoneticist, and is instead a _geek_ (akin to a Tolkeinist naming their kid Finwë) 2. **Litoris** ’ kid is, actually, a Nordic-language speaking Viking. … or maybe some combination of the two. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/83 "2008-03-22T04:19:23Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Ok smartarse… 😃 How’dja do that then? [/QUOTE] Well, reading right to left: lambda (Unicode 03BB), o, n, comma, IPA turned r (0279), schwa (0258) = you’re, and so forth. I _still_ want to know how you get this message board to recognize special characters from a Mac other than those available from the “option+key” command… Mac keyboards have separate navigation keys, and the “number lock” key is completely without function when connected to a Mac, as far as I can tell. Is there another way of inputting the code? ƒ®ß (although I’d like to be 2F03 2608 03B2\*) \*Kangxi radical slash, thunderstorm, beta = JRB ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/84 "2008-03-22T05:39:46Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Ok smartarse… 😃 How’dja do that then? [/QUOTE] [Flip](http://www.revfad.com/flip.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/85 "2008-03-22T06:08:45Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical] [Flip](http://www.revfad.com/flip.html) [/QUOTE] ˙ʇsǝʇ ɐ sı sıɥʇ Well, whadda ya know. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/86 "2008-03-22T06:14:47Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] And here I thought I’d be cool by trying to resurrect [Thorn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorn_%28letter%29) [/QUOTE] Oh! Oh! Can I join þe movement? No seriously! ---
**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 22, 2008, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/87 "2008-03-22T06:18:10Z")
˙pǝddılɟ uǝɥʍ ǝsɐɔ ɹǝʍol oʇ ʇɹǝʌǝɹ sdɐɔ˙˙˙ʇnq˙˙˙ʇnq ¿ʇɐp ʇıʍ dn,s ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/88 "2008-03-22T06:27:44Z")
[QUOTE=Starving Artist] ˙pǝddılɟ uǝɥʍ ǝsɐɔ ɹǝʍol oʇ ʇɹǝʌǝɹ sdɐɔ˙˙˙ʇnq˙˙˙ʇnq ¿ʇɐp ʇıʍ dn,s [/QUOTE] I think what it’s doing is going through the Unicode character set and finding letters that look like upside-down regular English letters and doing a straight substitution. Maybe there isn’t one that looks like an upside-down capital T. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/89 "2008-03-22T06:28:55Z")
To be completely unsilly for a moment (brace yourselves), this past Christmas I got The complete Æon Flux series on DVD (the cartoon, not the bad movie). It was great, I could send my old VHS copies away in a recent White Elephant exchange. Oh, and I still own the album Ænema by Tool. Pretentious choice of spellings? Probably, which is why I usually just type “Aeon Flux” when I want to mention the show. ---
**Author:** ![sangfroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@sangfroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sangfroid)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/90 "2008-03-22T06:47:44Z")
[QUOTE=bbs2k] To be completely unsilly for a moment (brace yourselves), this past Christmas I got The complete Æon Flux series on DVD (the cartoon, not the bad movie). It was great, I could send my old VHS copies away in a recent White Elephant exchange. Oh, and I still own the album Ænema by Tool. Pretentious choice of spellings? Probably, which is why I usually just type “Aeon Flux” when I want to mention the show. [/QUOTE] Ae, **bbs**? Must be reading too much rhino lately… ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/91 "2008-03-22T06:48:05Z")
I bet that would say “edited by elmwood, thirty seven times, in five minutes!” if the software was up to it. Tris ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/92 "2008-03-22T06:54:47Z")
[QUOTE=sangfroid] Ae, **bbs**? Must be reading too much rhino lately… [/QUOTE] ryhno rhyno. :smack: ---
**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 22, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/93 "2008-03-22T07:42:32Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I think what it’s doing is going through the Unicode character set and finding letters that look like upside-down regular English letters and doing a straight substitution. Maybe there isn’t one that looks like an upside-down capital T. [/QUOTE] Thanks. I’m getting a kick out of discovering these character tricks now that I know to use the numeric keypad. I could never get a special character before because I was using the wrong numeral keys and so I never really looked into developing a vocabulary of them. Now I’ve got a list handy. Très cool. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/94 "2008-03-22T09:38:37Z")
If ever I revert to pretentious wankerdom, may my tongue turn to æes in my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/95 "2008-03-22T09:45:58Z")
The “x” key on my keyboard is broken, and has been for some time. Too skint to buy a new one, I’ve had to memorise “x” (alt+0120), “X” (alt+0088) and “^X” (alt+0024). It’s got to the point where if I work on a keyboard with a functioning x, I still find myself heading for the numeric keypad to properly eXpress myself. Doesn’t work in Linux. Drives me nuts. Anyone know of an equivalent method for that? ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/96 "2008-03-22T11:37:25Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] ˙sɹǝʇɔɐɹɐɥɔ lɐıɔǝds ǝɹnɔsqo ɹnoʎ ɥʇıʍ 'sɹǝʞuɐʍ snoıʇuǝʇǝɹd ɟo ɥɔunq ɐ ʇsnɾ llɐ ǝɹ,noʎ [/QUOTE] ﻼ .TAHT ❤ I .bЯ∃ﻼИ [QUOTE=Don’t fight the hypothetical] [Flip](http://www.revfad.com/flip.html) [/QUOTE] !XИAHT .∃ﻼЯOM UOY ❤ I TUd ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/97 "2008-03-22T14:05:40Z")
HÀ hÁ hå yØû shÔúld Åll bË tŸ¶ïñg ÔÑ tËh BlãÇKbÊrrý Õñ whÌÇH ít ̧ súpÉRÈÄSý tÖ ÐÓ thÉsé ÇhÁrÁchtÉrß. HØLÐ Þe këÿ, rŒll ÞÉ trÅÇkwhêël. ÆsÝ. ---
**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 22, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/98 "2008-03-22T15:35:13Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] I think what it’s doing is going through the Unicode character set and finding letters that look like upside-down regular English letters and doing a straight substitution. Maybe there isn’t one that looks like an upside-down capital T. [/QUOTE] ⊥ The upside down “T” looking thing is a symbol in mathematics that means perpendicular. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/99 "2008-03-22T16:15:12Z")
[QUOTE=Lightray] /æ/ is the low, front, unrounded vowel (American usage) or, erm… (flips through IPA book)… low, front, unrounded vowel in IPA – lower than /ε/, higher than /a/ in both. What word you might use it in will probably vary by what accent you have. Basically dropped out of English with the Great Vowel Shift, IIRC. /ae/ is just a diphthong – it’s _two_ vowels, smooshed together. They’re not interchangable, and someone who uses the one for the other is, indeed, a wanker. [/QUOTE] Sometimes when people write in German, and they can’t do umlauts for whatever reason, they just put an e after the letter to be umlauted. Maybe that’s why someone would do it, but then it would be more like /ε/. I don’t know why anyone would put it in “encyclopedia,” or why OP thinks they do it to look “smart.” ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219/100 "2008-03-22T16:57:59Z")
Pretentiousness, thy name is _“Hallowe’en”_. (Or using the word “thy”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-think-using-the-ligature-ae-makes-them-look-smart-are-wankers/442219.md?page=6)