# What is this symbol?  **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704 "2009-10-30T06:32:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/1 "2009-10-30T06:32:50Z")
It’s a box containing what appear to be three zeroes and a one: What’s it called? What does it mean? Where does it come from? Where will it go? ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/2 "2009-10-30T06:44:35Z")
It’s a [data link](http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/0010/index.htm) escape. I don’t know what it is but there’s [some info here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_character). ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/3 "2009-10-30T06:47:58Z")
[Update](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_link_escape): it appears to be an ascii or unicode character that is not a symbol but instead mirrors some other function, in this case, “Cause the following octets to be interpreted as raw data, not as control codes or graphic characters. Returning to normal usage would be implementation dependent.” If your system doesn’t need to use it as a function, it may display some kind of placeholder character. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/4 "2009-10-30T17:57:17Z")
When copying my resume from a word document to a text box on a job website, the dots on my listed items: [ul] [li]Like[/li][li]this[/li][/ul] show up as Like This ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/5 "2009-11-01T10:12:40Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > When copying my resume from a word document to a text box on a job website, the dots on my listed items: > [ul] > [li]Like[/li][li]this[/li][/ul] > show up as > > Like > This …which is why, if I intend trouble-free copy-and-pasting from a document, I use notepad and forego the fancy formatting. Asterisks are the original “bullet.” ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/6 "2009-11-01T10:31:51Z")
I just manually replace the s with asterisks after I cut and paste. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/7 "2009-11-01T23:21:12Z")
It shows up as a cross-shaped character on my screen. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/8 "2009-11-02T00:31:12Z")
Thanks for answering, **jackdavinci** , although I’m afraid what I got out of that was that it’s basically none of my business. > [@Colophon](#): > > It shows up as a cross-shaped character on my screen. . Huh. I’m using Firefox on Windows, if that matters. I’ve changed the font several times just to see what happens and in most of them it looks as I described. In a few of them, the first one shows as an empty box. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/9 "2009-11-04T08:11:35Z")
On my end, it’s the symbol used when there’s no character for that value in the font. Of course, it could be that I don’t have a value in my standard font (Times New Roman). ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/10 "2009-11-04T17:00:21Z")
A tangent: I read [washingtonpost.com](http://washingtonpost.com) each morning. Sporadically, perhaps as seldom as once every few months I get a symbol similar to the OPs scattered throught the entire WP. It disappears the next day. I rarly see the symbol elsewhere unless I am playing with Unicode. ---
**Author:** ![LeidenFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eada6e/32.png) [@LeidenFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeidenFrost)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/11 "2009-11-05T15:27:00Z")
Its called a “dagger.” Its used the same as an asterisk or reference number to make a note of something for the reader. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/12 "2009-11-07T21:32:38Z")
A dagger is U+2020, † ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/13 "2009-11-20T19:38:04Z")
Testing: this is a copy paste from a quite different forum. c888 ÆLFRED Boeth. XXXII. §3 Æᵹðer ᵹe hwite ᵹimmas ᵹe reade. On preview it appears the same as there. Now I will post. ed - [Appears the same on the other forum, here on preview and here after posting.] ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-symbol/515704/14 "2009-11-26T22:18:56Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > When copying my resume from a word document to a text box on a job website, the dots on my listed items: > [ul] > [li]Like[/li][li]this[/li][/ul] > show up as > > Like > This That happens to my dashes when I copy/paste them, and conversely when I copy, say, a state statute from the govt website into a Word document.