# slash and backslash

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 8, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465 "2000-09-08T05:27:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/1 "2000-09-08T05:27:23Z")

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I have seen people refer to / (and ) as either slash or backslash. I always assumed that / was backslash and \ was slash. Were these people making a mistake, or is there no authorative definition?

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/2 "2000-09-08T05:34:06Z")

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/ = slash  
\ = backslash

I don’t know why, other than that “/” is probably older and hence is the ‘original’ slash.

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**Author:** ![geekgurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8797f3/32.png) [@geekgurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geekgurl)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/3 "2000-09-08T05:37:41Z")

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\ = backslash as it leans backwards?  
hmm…well it works for me!

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**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/4 "2000-09-08T05:41:10Z")

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The / was first and was used on typewriters for fractions. Typographers decided that .5 was 1/2 not 1\2.

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/5 "2000-09-08T05:48:16Z")

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The **/** is also called a “virgule”.  
I remember some idiot saying \*_\*_ must be called an “elugriv” (“virgule” spelled backwards). I’m glad “slash” and “backslash” caught on instead.

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**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/6 "2000-09-08T07:47:36Z")

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They teach us top to bottom right to left then dump this into our laps? I don’t Know how we all made it through english whithout pulling out our Knives.

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**Author:** ![EvilGhandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@EvilGhandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilGhandi)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/7 "2000-09-08T07:50:43Z")

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err left to right, really it would have been funnier without this.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/8 "2000-09-08T14:32:07Z")

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Programmers have had slang terms for punctuation characters for years. When the need arises, it’s so much easier to just say “dot bang splat”. My favorite are the left and right braces, ‘{’ and ‘}’, as ‘embrace’ and ‘bracelet’.

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**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/9 "2000-09-08T14:45:51Z")

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Huh? “dot bang splat”?

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**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/10 "2000-09-08T14:57:58Z")

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Anyone ever hear that comedian who reads prose and pronounces all the punctuation?

Fuh-nee!

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/11 "2000-09-08T15:40:15Z")

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This subject \<'s. Shut up or I’ll # you with a !

I remember writing a utility program once that involved parsing syntax marked by backticks. In keeping with the flavor of typical UNIX “E\_” error messages, I had it inform you of a missing closing backtick with:

E\_LIVINGDEAD: open grave.

Well, I thought it was amusing, anyway.

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**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/12 "2000-09-08T15:43:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by UncleBeer \*  
> \*\*Huh? “dot bang splat”? \*\*

dot bang splat = . ! \*

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/13 "2000-09-08T15:47:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by UncleBeer \*  
> Huh? “dot bang splat”?

written = .!\*  
spoken (by a non-hacker) = period, exclamation point, asterisk  
spoken (by a hacker) = dot bang splat

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**Author:** ![TampaFlyer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@TampaFlyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TampaFlyer)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/14 "2000-09-08T17:51:48Z")

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- is usually called star, as in _._, star dot star.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/15 "2000-09-08T18:09:41Z")

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Star dot star? Tampa, RobotArm was talking about hackers, not folks who use Microsquish.😉

My personal favorites are “wax” and “wane” for ( and ). It sure beats “open parenthesis” and “close parenthesis”

By the way, yabob, what pronounciation were you using for \< in that sentence? I know that as either “Less than”, “bra”, or “open angle bracket”.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/16 "2000-09-08T18:22:17Z")

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Well of course in the interest of clarity (Ha!) programmers of various camps have come up with a dizzying array of names for our friendly little punctuation marks. ‘Embrace’, ‘bracelet’, ‘wax’, ‘wane’ and ‘splat’ (along with ‘mesh’, ‘worm’, ‘sqiggle’ and a host of others) were devised by the inventors of INTERCAL, about which the less said the better.

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**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/17 "2000-09-08T18:25:40Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted and amended by EvilGhandi \*  
> **They teach us top to bottom left to right then dump this into our laps?**

Yes, exactly. With a regular slash (/) the stuff on the top is the same as the stuff on the left, and so it unambiguously precedes the stuff on the bottom and right.

It works for me. Tell me something. A fraction like “one-half” can be easily written on a couple of lines like:

## 1

2

Now, if you wanted to put it on a single line, which would make more sense: 1/2 or 1\2 ? Seems like a no-brainer to me!

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**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/18 "2000-09-08T18:29:54Z")

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What’s wrong with Intercal, Robot Arm? Do you prefer Befunge? 😉

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Chronos \*  
> My personal favorites are “wax” and “wane” for ( and ). It sure beats “open parenthesis” and “close parenthesis”

Using “wax” and “wane” was the biggest mistake in Intercal-speak–it makes too much sense!

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**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/19 "2000-09-08T18:33:17Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Chronos \*  
> \*\*By the way, yabob, what pronounciation were you using for \< in that sentence? I know that as either “Less than”, “bra”, or “open angle bracket”. \*\*

We call it “angle bracket” in the world of mark-up languages like HTML and XML.

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**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/slash-and-backslash/32465/20 "2000-09-08T18:49:02Z")

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What’s wrong with INTERCAL!? First off, it should be capitalized, since it’s an acronym. INTERCAL stands for “Computer Language With No Pronouncable Acronym”, and it goes downhill fast from there.

The New Hacker’s Dictionary gives these names for the \<\> pair (“l/r” stands for “left/right”).

less/greater than  
bra/ket  
l/r angle  
l/r angle bracket  
l/r broket  
from/into  
from/towards  
read from/write to  
suck/blow  
comes-from/gozinta  
in/out  
crunch/zap  
angle/right angle

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