# The one symbol not on the QWERTY keyboard that ought to be **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** computer-hardware\ **Created:** [February 13, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496 "2024-02-13T00:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/1 "2024-02-13T00:26:47Z")
So you have the authority to dictate ISO/IEC standards and you can mandate that one symbol currently only available as a Unicode sequence will henceforth be on the standard English 105-key keyboard. What do you pick (and what gets bumped off)? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/2 "2024-02-13T00:45:34Z")
The cent symbol, and that’s my $0.02. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/3 "2024-02-13T00:50:31Z")
Percent thingy.% ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/4 "2024-02-13T00:53:11Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > % Isn’t it on your 5 key? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/5 "2024-02-13T00:54:26Z")
°     ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/6 "2024-02-13T00:54:57Z")
Oh yeah ---
**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:** [February 13, 2024, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/7 "2024-02-13T00:56:45Z")
Euro symbol. And it bumps off … Man, that’s a tough one, but I don’t think I really use the backtick in the top left corner. I think I use every other key and symbol otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/8 "2024-02-13T00:57:04Z")
€, assuming we’re talking American keyboards which don’t already have it, would be useful to have. Or ° so that writing about temperature would be easier. I’m willing to sacrifice Pause|Break or right-alt for either. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/9 "2024-02-13T01:03:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t think I really use the backtick in the top left corner It’s used on this very site for `preformatted text`. There’s a GUI button, but it’s a bit annoying. I missed the bumping off requirement. I’d say scroll lock, but that’s a button, not a symbol. I don’t have an answer. Every symbol on my keyboard is hit dozens of times a day at minimum. Can I pick the forward slash on the numeric keypad specifically? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/10 "2024-02-13T01:03:45Z")
I’ll second the request for a cent sign. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/11 "2024-02-13T01:05:57Z")
Is the “cent” suggestion serious? Who uses a cent sign? Even in printed matters, I don’t think I’ve drawn a cent sign in 30+ years. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/12 "2024-02-13T01:06:51Z")
µ or Ω ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/13 "2024-02-13T01:07:25Z")
In the little world that contains my computer-using life, an em dash key would be exquisite. Let it replace the exclamation point. People use too many of those damn things. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/14 "2024-02-13T01:07:42Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > It’s used on this very site for `preformatted text`. There’s a GUI button, but it’s a bit annoying Yeah, that’s something I’ve never used on this site, so I’m still happy to let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/15 "2024-02-13T01:16:19Z")
Am I misremembering, or did we make an exclamation point on a typewriter by typing a lowercase l, backspacing, and then typing a period beneath it. My vote is for the [interrobang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang). mmm ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/16 "2024-02-13T01:22:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > My vote is for the [interrobang](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interrobang). Beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/17 "2024-02-13T01:25:40Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Am I misremembering, or did we make an exclamation point on a typewriter by typing a lowercase l, backspacing, and then typing a period beneath it. When I was a teenager in the '90s, we were dirt poor and didn’t have a computer, and my handwriting was messy as hell due to my being left-handed and suffering frequent cramps due to inherited carpal tunnel, and so I wrote most of my school assignments on a vintage Underwood typewriter that had belonged to my grandfather, the kind that came with its own built-in carrying case. (Wish I still had it - it’d probably be worth a pretty penny these days.) Your memory is correct. It also didn’t have a 1 and you had to use a lowercase L instead. (ETA: I think it might have been apostrophe-backspace-period as @Briny_Deep says.) ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/18 "2024-02-13T01:28:38Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Am I misremembering, or did we make an exclamation point on a typewriter by typing a lowercase l, backspacing, and then typing a period beneath it. Maybe. It was an apostrophe with a period under it, I think. The lower-case “l” (ell, to be clear) was used for a numeral 1 symbol. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/19 "2024-02-13T01:41:52Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The cent symbol, and that’s my $0.02. ¢ (ALT 0162) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496/20 "2024-02-13T01:59:21Z")
Bring back the þ. I’d get rid of the ^ on the 6 key. Then I could type: “I’d get rid of þe ^ on þe 6 key.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-symbol-not-on-the-qwerty-keyboard-that-ought-to-be/997496.md?page=2)