Friday 7 November 2008

C# - C Doublecross

I wonder how many English-language people actually know what C# is in other languages. In Danish, you could either adopt the Microsoft-English "C Sharp" version, or use the normal localized word for # and get "C havelÄge", which basically means "C garden gate".

I have no clue how you can make the symbol "#" become "Sharp" - to me, it looks more like a pillow. Based on various languages, it could also be:

* C garden fence (from German)
* C pig's fence
* C Carpet
* C Gnarl

But why not just call the symbol what it is? C doublecross.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Spain:

"C Parrilla" (cooking grill)

Anonymous said...

It's the musical symbol for a sharpened note; i.e. the next semitone up.

Cb would be C flat.

Stupid name. Causes havoc with search engines.

Lars D said...

Interesting about the music - but the # symbol on a keyboard is not the symbol ♯ used in music, according to Unicode.

The musical "C♯" would in Denmark be called "Cis" or "C cross".

Anonymous said...

Many Czechs use the term which can be translated as "C prison" ...

Anonymous said...

@anonymous

"C prison" sounds more like it, :P

Anonymous said...

In PerĂș just C Sharp, but also C Michi (for the 3 in a row game, or tic-tac-toe)

Daniel

Anonymous said...

The musical note is correct: see the last question and answer at this MS link http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcsharp/aa336773.aspx :

Q.

What is the symbol in the name "C#"?
A.

The "#" is not the "hash" (or pound) symbol as most people believe. Rather, it is actually supposed to be the musical sharp symbol. However, the sharp symbol is not present on the standard keyboard, so it's easier to use the hash ("#") symbol. The name of the language is, of course, pronounced "see sharp."

Anonymous said...

In the UK, Australia and South Africa this symbol is often referred to as "cross hatch"

Anonymous said...

In norwegian it would be "C Skigard", which is a certain kind of fence: http://www.skigard.no/galleri.php

Anonymous said...

In English speaking countries (at least in USA for sure) to "double cross" someone means to betray them.

So that name would not be chosen here.

Anonymous said...

Makes one wonder if Cool (the original code name) should have stuck. I'm sure that would have helped it in the TPCI. All those posts about Cool Programming and such.