# The lost art of the dollar sign **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897 "2019-05-13T13:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897/81 "2019-05-26T13:07:47Z")
Note that a final “s” seems to depend on context. E.g., “You owe me 200 dollars.” “That’s a 200 dollar watch.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897/82 "2019-05-26T13:46:29Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Note that a final “s” seems to depend on context. E.g., > > “You owe me 200 dollars.” > > “That’s a 200 dollar watch.” That’s because it’s being used as an adjective modifying the noun “watch.” Conventionally, we would also punctuate it as “200-dollar watch.” See also: “ten-foot pole” vs “the pole is ten feet” or “he kicked a 52-yard field goal” vs “The field goal went fifty-two yards.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897/83 "2019-05-26T18:00:25Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > “Just” 16 million? That’s still a lot of hits. > [@naita](#): > > Yes, but it’s only 3% of the total. Shoulda responded: _”only 3% percent”_. : D ---
**Author:** ![SGNY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@SGNY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SGNY)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897/84 "2019-05-26T18:29:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Is Ireland the only English-language country that doesn’t use “Euros” in the plural? That’s only true in the written form. When speaking people more often say Euros ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897/85 "2019-05-26T19:45:47Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The real Lost Art of the dollar sign is not using two bars. Somehow the single bar, obviously the work of the devil, became dominant. We all know that the One True Dollar Sign has double bars. Cf. the “money bags” used in many old cartoons. The origin of the dollar sign is not clear, but the most widely accepted theory is that it originally was “ps”, an abbreviation for “pesos”. Eventually the “s” started being written above the “p”, and then later they were joined into a single glyph. At that point it probably had one bar, the stroke of the “p”. I think two bars was a later development. So there. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897/86 "2019-05-26T20:15:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s because it’s being used as an adjective modifying the noun “watch.” Conventionally, we would also punctuate it as “200-dollar watch.” See also: “ten-foot pole” vs “the pole is ten feet” or “he kicked a 52-yard field goal” vs “The field goal went fifty-two yards.” But note that it’s one thing in one context and another thing in a different context you start getting into vagaries of the language. Which a lot of people have a hard time with. Even the experts at times. While this one might seem simple, I’m sure it wouldn’t take much to construct an example where there’d be 5 pages of grammar wars about which is correct. (I’m always amazed by the people who claim English grammar is _simple_ and then I see here threads about “How do you parse this sentence?” that go on and on. I used to annoy my teachers in grade school who insisted that the rules were simple and I’d construct a sentence where clearly their rule didn’t work.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2019, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897/87 "2019-05-27T00:11:49Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > While this one might seem simple, I’m sure it wouldn’t take much to construct an example where there’d be 5 pages of grammar wars about which is correct. Indeed. I was trying to think of a counterexample, as there always seems to be one, but I really couldn’t. But it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody could find one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-lost-art-of-the-dollar-sign/833897.md?page=4)