Examine individual changes

'{{Short description|Oblique slanting line punctuation mark '/'}} {{About|the punctuation|the root directory in Unix and Unix-like operating systems|Root directory|the episode of ''Person of Interest''|/ (Person of Interest)}} {{Technical reasons|:/|the keyboard symbol|List of emoticons}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox punctuation mark|mark=/|name=Slash |variant1=&nbsp;⁄&nbsp;|caption1=Fraction slash |variant2=&nbsp;∕&nbsp;|caption2=Division slash |variant3=／|caption3=Fullwidth solidus }} The '''slash''' is an oblique slanting line [[#Conjunction|punctuation mark]] {{char|/}}. Once used to mark [[full stop|periods]] and [[comma]]s, the slash is now most often used to represent [[#XOR|exclusive]] or [[#And|inclusive or]], [[#Division|division]] and [[#Fractions|fractions]], and as a [[#Dating|date separator]]. It is called a '''solidus''' in [[Unicode]], it is also known as an '''oblique stroke''', and it has [[#Alternative names|several other historical or technical names]], including '''oblique''' and '''virgule'''. A slash in the reverse direction {{char|\}} is known as a [[backslash]]. ==History== Slashes may be found in early writing as a variant form of [[dash (typography)|dashes]], [[vertical bar|vertical strokes]], etc. The present use of a slash distinguished from such other marks derives from the [[medieval Europe]]an [[#virgule|virgule]] ({{lang-la|virgula}}, {{nowrap|<small>{{abbr|lit|literally}}.</small> "twig"),}} which was used as a [[full stop|period]], [[#scratch|scratch comma]], and [[caesura mark]].<ref name=virg/><ref name=verg/> (The first sense was eventually lost to the [[full stop|low dot]] and the other two developed separately into the [[comma]] {{char|,}} and [[caesura mark]] {{char|{{!}}{{!}}}}) Its use as a comma became especially widespread in [[Kingdom of France|France]], where it was also used to mark the continuation of a word onto the next line of a page, a sense later taken on by the [[hyphen]] {{char|-}}.<ref name=partridge>{{citation |last=Partridge |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lN-KAgAAQBAJ |title=You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies |publisher=Hamish Hamilton, republished 2005 by Taylor & Francis |location=London |date=1953 |isbn=0-415-05075-8 |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lN-KAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |contribution=The Virgule (or Virgil) or the Oblique |page=155 f |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303164318/https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=lN-KAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}.</ref> The [[Fraktur]] script used throughout [[Central Europe]] in the [[early modern period]] used a single slash as a scratch comma and a double slash {{char|//}} as a dash. The double slash developed into the [[Double hyphen|double oblique hyphen]] {{char|⸗}} and [[double hyphen]] {{char|＝}} or {{char|゠}} before being usually simplified into [[dash|various single dashes]]. In the 18th century, the mark was generally known in English as the "[[#oblique|oblique]]".<ref name=oedobli/> The variant "oblique stroke" was increasingly shortened to "[[#stroke|stroke]]", which became the common British name for the character, although printers and publishing professionals often instead referred to it as an "oblique". In the 19th and early 20th century, it was also widely known as the "[[#shilling|shilling mark]]" or "[[#solidus|solidus]]", from its use as the [[#Currency|currency sign]] for the [[shilling]].<ref name=oedshill/><ref name=oedsolid/> The name "slash" is a recent development, first attested in [[American English]] {{circa|lk=no|1961}},<ref name=":0">"slash, n.1". OED Online. December 2020. Oxford University Press. <nowiki>https://www-oed-com.library.access.arlingtonva.us/view/Entry/181388?rskey=kGzdlw&result=1&isAdvanced=false</nowiki> (accessed February 14, 2021).</ref> but has gained wide currency through its use in [[#Computing|computing]], a context where it is sometimes even used in British English in preference to the usual name "stroke". Clarifying terms such as "forward slash" have been coined owing to widespread use of [[Microsoft]]'s [[MS-DOS|DOS]] and [[Windows (OS)|Windows]] [[operating system]]s, which use the [[backslash]] extensively.<ref name=jed/><ref name=turton/> ==Usage== {{anchor|Or|Gender neutrality|Gender-neutrality}} ===Disjunction and conjunction=== {{anchor|XOR}} ====Connecting alternatives==== {{see also|Gender neutrality in languages with grammatical gender}} The slash is commonly used in many languages as a shorter substitute for the [[Conjunction (grammar)#Coordinating conjunctions|conjunction]] "or", typically with the sense of [[exclusive or]] (e.g., Y/N permits yes or no but not both).<ref name=solidhart/> Its use in this sense is somewhat informal,<ref name=cms104>{{citation |title=The Chicago Manual of Style, ''16th ed''. |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |date=2016 |at=[http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch06/ch06_sec104.html 6.104] |title-link=The Chicago Manual of Style }}.</ref> although it is used in [[philology]] to note variants (e.g., ''virgula/{{not a typo|uirgula}}'') and [[etymology|etymologies]] (e.g., {{nowrap|[[French language|F.]] ''virgule''/}}{{nowrap|[[Late Latin|LL]]. ''virgula''/}}{{nowrap|[[Classical Latin|L.]] ''virga''/}}{{nowrap|[[Proto-Indo-European|PIE]]. *''wirgā'').}}<ref name=partridge/> Such slashes may be used to avoid taking a position in [[Ethnonym|naming disputes]]. One example is the [[Syriac naming dispute]], which prompted the [[US census|US]] and [[Swedish census]]es to use the respective official designations "[[Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac]]" and "[[Assyrier/Syrianer]]" for the ethnic group. In particular, since the late 20th century, the slash is used to permit more [[gender-neutral language]] in place of the traditional [[He (pronoun)#Generic pronoun|masculine]] or [[singular they|plural]] gender neutrals. In the case of [[English language|English]], this is usually restricted to [[Gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns|degendered pronouns]] such as "he/she" or "s/he". Most other [[Indo-European languages]] include more far-reaching use of [[grammatical gender]]. In these, the separate gendered [[desinence]]s (grammatical suffices) of the words may be given divided by slashes or set off with [[parentheses]]. For example, in [[Spanish language|Spanish]], {{lang|es|hijo}} is a son and a {{lang|es|hija}} is a daughter; some proponents of gender-neutral language advocate the use of {{lang|es|hijo/a}} or {{lang|es|hijo(a)}} when writing for a general audience or addressing a listener of unknown gender.<ref>{{citation |last=Cunha |author2-last=Cintra |display-authors=1 |ref={{harvid|Cunha & al.|2001}} |date=2001 |title=Nova Gramática do Português Contemporâneo, ''3rd ed''. |location=Rio de Janeiro |publisher=Nova Fronteira |isbn=85-209-1137-4 |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://numpol.com/br/pdf/2II.pdf |title=Coleção Números Polêmicos |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714220702/http://numpol.com/br/pdf/2II.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2011 |access-date=29 July 2012 |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{citation |first=Robson |last=Fernando de Souza |contribution-url=http://conscienciaefervescente.blogspot.com/2009/08/proposta-do-portugues-com-inclusao-de.html |contribution=A proposta do Português com Inclusão de Gênero |title=Consciência Efervescente |date=27 February 2004 |access-date=24 July 2012 |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Portuguese with Inclusion of Gender }}.</ref> Less commonly, the [[æ]]{{Citation needed|reason=Unlike @ which gets used often these days, I have never seen æ in my entire life in any Spanish speaking country, and it doesn't even make sense as ae is nowhere near a/o|date=April 2017}} [[Typographic ligature|ligature]] or [[At sign#Gender-neutrality in Spanish and Portuguese|at sign]] {{angle brackets|@}} is used instead: {{lang|es|hij@}}. Similarly, in [[German language|German]], {{lang|de|Sekretär}} refers to any secretary and {{lang|de|Sekretärin}} to an explicitly female secretary; some advocates of gender neutrality support forms such as {{lang|de|Sekretär/-in}} for general use. This does not always work smoothly, however: problems arise in the case of words like {{lang|de|Arzt}} ("doctor") where the explicitly female form {{lang|de|Ärztin}} is [[umlaut (diacritic)|umlauted]] and words like {{lang|de|Chinese}} ("Chinese person") where the explicitly female form {{lang|de|Chinesin}} loses the terminal ''-e''. {{anchor|And}} ====Connecting non-contrasting items==== The slash is also used as a shorter substitute for the conjunction "and" or [[inclusive or]] (i.e., A or B or both),<ref name=cms104/> typically in situations where it fills the role of a hyphen or [[en dash]]. For example, the "Hemingway/Faulkner generation" might be used to discuss the era of the [[Lost Generation]] inclusive of the people around and affected by both [[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingway]] and [[William Faulkner|Faulkner]]. This use is sometimes proscribed, as by ''[[New Hart's Rules]]'', the style guide for the [[Oxford University Press]].<ref name=solidhart/> ====Presenting routes==== The slash, as a form of inclusive or, is also used to punctuate the stages of a route (e.g., [[Shanghai]]/[[Nanjing]]/[[Wuhan]]/[[Chongqing]] as stops on a tour of the [[Yangtze River|Yangtze]]).<ref name=partridge/> ==== Introducing topic shifts ==== The word "slash" is also developing as a way to introduce topic shifts or follow-up statements. "Slash" can introduce a follow up statement, such as, "I really love that hot dog place on Liberty Street. Slash can we go there tomorrow?" It can also indicate a shift to an unrelated topic, as in "JUST SAW ALEX! Slash I just chubbed on oatmeal raisin cookies at north quad and i miss you." The new usage of "slash" appears most frequently in spoken conversation, though it can also appear in writing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/04/24/slash-not-just-a-punctuation-mark-anymore/|title=Slash: Not Just a Punctuation Mark Anymore|website=Lingua Franca|publisher=The Chronicle of Higher Education|last1=Curzan|first1=Anne|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193330/http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/04/24/slash-not-just-a-punctuation-mark-anymore/|archive-date=29 October 2013|date=24 April 2013}}</ref> ====In speech==== Sometimes the word "slash" is used in speech as a [[conjunction (grammar)|conjunction]] to represent the written role of the character (as if a written slash were being read aloud from text), e.g. "bee slash mosquito protection" for a beekeeper's net hood,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxHrqCxjP2U YouTube video: "''Back Like I Never Left - Jourdan River Vacation House Hive Removal''"]</ref> and "There's a little bit of nectar slash honey over here, but really it's not a lot." (said by a beekeeper examining in a beehive),<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybW0QLxQEg YouTube video "Drone laying hive building up and getting new equipment"] at time 9:16</ref> and "''[[Gastornis]]'' slash ''[[Diatryma]]''" for two supposed genera of prehistoric birds which are now thought to be one genus.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amUhDAyYvkY The Terror Duck - Gastornis at time 5:30]</ref> {{anchor|Math|Maths}} === {{anchor|Arithmetic|Fraction|Ratio|Ratios}} Mathematics === ==== Fractions ==== The fraction slash {{angle brackets| ⁄ }} is used between two numbers to indicate a [[fraction]] or [[ratio]]. Such formatting developed as a way to write the horizontal [[fraction bar]] on a single line of text. It is first attested in [[Kingdom of England|England]] and [[Viceroyalty of Mexico|Mexico]] in the 18th century.<ref name=jeff>{{citation |last=Miller |first=Jeff |contribution=Fractions |contribution-url=http://jeff560.tripod.com/fractions.html |url=http://jeff560.tripod.com/mathsym.html |title=Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols |date=22 December 2014 |access-date=15 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220073955/http://jeff560.tripod.com/mathsym.html |archive-date=20 February 2016 }}.</ref> This notation is known as an online, solidus,<ref>{{citation |last=Eckersley |first=Richard |author2=Richard Angstadt |author3=Charles M. Ellertson |author4=Richard Hendel |author5=Naomi B. Pascal |author6=Anita Walker Scott |display-authors=1 |title=Glossary of Typesetting Terms |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeTnynRiN8AC |date=1994 |ref={{harvid|Eckersley & al.|1994}} |isbn=0-226-18371-8 |page=[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oeTnynRiN8AC&pg=PA97 97] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412024625/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oeTnynRiN8AC&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=12 April 2016 }}.</ref> or shilling fraction.<ref name=gtt93/> Nowadays fractions, unlike inline division, are often given using smaller numbers, [[superscript]], and [[subscript]] (e.g., ²³⁄₄₃). This notation is responsible for the current form of the [[percent sign|percent]] {{angle brackets|%}}, [[permille]] {{angle brackets|‰}}, and [[permyriad]] {{angle brackets|‱}} signs, developed from the horizontal form {{sfrac|0|0}} which represented an early modern corruption of an Italian abbreviation of ''per cento''.<ref>{{citation |last=Smith |first=D.E. |title=Rara Arithmetica |date=1898 }}.</ref> Many fonts draw the fraction slash (and the division slash) less vertical than the slash. The separate encoding is also intended to permit automatic formatting of the preceding and succeeding digits by glyph substitution with numerator and denominator glyphs (e.g., display of "1, fraction slash, 2" as "½"),<ref>{{citation |title=The Unicode Standard, ''ver. 6.0'' |page=192 |contribution=Writing Systems and Punctuation: General Punctuation: Fraction Slash |contribution-url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0/ch06.pdf#G12861 |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-936213-01-6 |editor=Julie D. Allen |display-editors=0 |ref={{harvid|Unicode|2011}} |publisher=Unicode Consortium }}</ref> though this is not yet supported in many environments or fonts. Because of this lack of support, some authors still use [[Unicode subscripts and superscripts#Uses|Unicode subscripts and superscripts]] to compose fractions, and many fonts design these characters for this purpose. In addition, all of the multiples less than 1 of ¹⁄_n for 2 ≤ n ≤ 6 and n = 8 (e.g. ²⁄₃ and ⁵⁄₈), as well as ¹⁄₇, ¹⁄₉, and ¹⁄₁₀, are in the Unicode [[Number Forms]] or [[Latin-1_Supplement_(Unicode_block)|Latin-1 Supplement]] block as [[precomposed character]]s.<ref>{{citation|title=The Unicode Standard ''12.1'' |publisher=Unicode Consortium|contribution=Number Forms|year=2019 |contribution-url=https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U2150.pdf}}.</ref> This notation can also be used when the concept of fractions is extended from numbers to arbitrary rings by the method of [[localization of a ring]]. ==== {{anchor|division}} Division ==== The division slash {{angle brackets|{{nowrap| ∕ }}}}, may be used between two numbers to indicate [[division (math)|division]], equivalent to the [[division sign]] {{angle brackets|{{nowrap| ÷ }}}}. For example, {{nowrap|23 ÷ 43}} can also be written as {{nowrap|23 ∕ 43}}. This use developed from the [[#Fractions|fraction slash]] in the late 18th or early 19th century.<ref name=jeff/> The formatting was advocated by [[Augustus De Morgan|De Morgan]] in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{citation |last=De Morgan |contribution=The Calculus of Functions |title=Encyclopaedia Metropolitana |date=1845 }}.</ref> ==== Quotient of [[set (mathematics)|set]] ==== A ''quotient of a set'' is informally a new set obtained by identifying some elements of the original set. This is denoted as a fraction <math> S / R </math> (sometimes even as a built fraction), where the numerator <math>S</math> is the original set (often equipped with some algebraic structure). What is appropriate as denominator depends on the context. In the most general case, the denominator is an [[equivalence relation]] <math>\sim</math> on the original set <math>S</math>, and elements are to be identified in the quotient <math>S/{\sim}</math> if they are equivalent according to <math>\sim</math>; this is technically achieved by making <math>S/{\sim}</math> the set of all [[equivalence class]]es of <math>\sim</math>. In [[group theory]], the slash is used to mark [[quotient group]]s. The general form is <math> G/N </math>, where <math> G </math> is the original group and <math> N </math> is the normal subgroup; this is read "<math>G</math> mod <math>N</math>", where "mod" is short for "[[modulo operation|modulo]]". Formally this is a special case of quotient by an equivalence relation, where <math> g \sim h </math> iff <math> g = hn </math> for some <math>n \in N</math>. Since many algebraic structures ([[ring (mathematics)|ring]]s, [[vector space]]s, etc.) in particular are groups, the same style of quotients extend also to these, although the denominator may need to satisfy additional [[Closure (mathematics)|closure]] properties for the quotient to preserve the full algebraic structure of the original (e.g. for the quotient of a ring to be a ring, the denominator must be an [[Ideal (ring theory)|ideal]]). When the original set is the set of [[integer]]s <math>\mathbb{Z}</math>, the denominator may alternatively be just an integer: <math>\mathbb{Z}/n</math>. This is an alternative notation for the set <math>\mathbb{Z}_n</math> of [[modular arithmetic#Integers modulo n|integers modulo ''n'']] (needed because <math>\mathbb{Z}_n</math> is also notation for the very different [[P-adic number|ring of ''n''-adic integers]]). <math>\mathbb{Z}/n</math> is an abbreviation of <math>\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}</math> or <math>\mathbb{Z}/(n)</math>, which both are ways of writing the set in question as a quotient of groups. ==== Combining slash ==== Slashes may also be used as a [[combining character]] in mathematical formulae. The most important use of this is that combining a slash with a [[binary relation|relation]] negates it, producing e.g. 'not equal' <math>\neq</math> as negation of <math>=</math> or 'not in' <math>\notin</math> as negation of <math>\in</math>; these slashed relation symbols are always implicitly defined in terms of the non-slashed base symbol. The graphical form of the negation slash is mostly the same as for a division slash, except in some cases where that would look odd; the negation <math>\nmid</math> of <math>\mid</math> (divides) and negation <math>\nsim</math> of <math>\sim</math> (various meanings) customarily both have their negations slashes less steep and in particular shorter than the usual one. The [[Feynman slash notation]] is an unrelated use of combining slashes, mostly seen in [[quantum field theory]]. This kind of combining slash takes a vector base symbol and converts it to a matrix quantity. Technically this notation is a shorthand for contracting the vector with the [[gamma matrix|Dirac gamma matrices]], so <math> A\!\!\!/ = \gamma^\mu A_\mu </math>; what one gains is not only a more compact formula, but also not having to allocate a letter as the contracted index. ===Computing=== The slash, sometimes distinguished as "forward slash", is used in [[computing]] in a number of ways, primarily as a separator among levels in a given hierarchy, for example in the path of a filesystem. ====File paths==== The slash is used as the [[path (computing)|path]] component separator in many [[computer]] operating systems (e.g., Unix's {{mono|pictures/image.png}}). In [[Unix]] and [[Unix-like]] systems, such as [[macOS]] and [[Linux]], the slash is also used for the [[volume (computing)|volume]] [[root directory]] (e.g., the initial slash in {{mono|/usr/john/pictures}}). Confusion of the slash with the backslash {{angle brackets|\}} largely arises from the use of the latter as the path component separator in the widely used MS-DOS and [[Microsoft Windows]] systems.<ref name=jed/><ref name=turton/> ====Networking==== The slash is used in a similar fashion in [[internet]] [[Uniform Resource Locator|URLs]] (e.g., {{mono|<nowiki>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(punctuation)</nowiki>}}).<ref name=solidhart/> Often a portion of such URLs corresponds with files on a Unix [[computer server|server]] with the same name. The slash in an [[IP address]] (e.g., {{mono|192.0.2.0/29}}) indicates the prefix size in [[CIDR notation]]. The number of addresses of a [[Subnetwork|subnet]] may be calculated as 2^{address size − prefix size}, in which the address size is 128 for [[IPv6]] and 32 for [[IPv4]]. For example, in IPv4, the prefix size /29 gives: 2^32–29 = 2³ = 8 addresses. ====Programming==== The slash is used as a [[#Division|division operator]] in most [[programming language]]s while [[APL (programming language)|APL]] uses it for reduction ([[Fold (higher-order function)|fold]]) and compression ([[Filter (higher-order function)|filter]]). The double slash is used by [[Rexx]] as a [[#Mod|modulo operator]], and [[Python (programming language)|Python]] (starting in version 2.2) uses a double slash for division which rounds (using [[Floor and ceiling functions|floor]]) to an integer. In [[Raku (programming language)|Raku]] the double slash is used as a "defined-or" alternative to '''||'''. A dot and slash {{angle brackets|./}} is used in [[MATLAB]] and [[GNU Octave]] to indicate an element-by-element division of matrices. [[comment (computer programming)|Comments]] that begin with {{mono|'''/*'''}} (a slash and an asterisk) and end with {{mono|'''*/'''}} were introduced in [[PL/I]] and subsequently adopted by [[SAS System|SAS]], [[C (programming language)|C]], Rexx, [[C++]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[JavaScript]], [[PHP]], [[Cascading Style Sheets|CSS]], and [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]]. A double slash {{mono|'''//'''}} is also used by [[C99]], C++, C#, PHP, Java, [[Swift (programming language)|Swift]], and JavaScript to start a single line comment. In [[SGML]] and derived languages such as [[HTML]] and [[XML]], a slash is used in closing tags. For example, in HTML, {{mono|&lt;b&gt;}} begins a section of '''bold''' text and {{mono|&lt;/b&gt;}} closes it. In XHTML, slashes are also necessary for "self-closing" elements such as the [[newline]] command {{nowrap|{{mono|&lt;br /&gt;}}}} where HTML has simply {{nowrap|{{mono|&lt;br&gt;}}}}. In a style originating in the [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] line of operating systems ([[OS/8]], [[RT-11]], [[TOPS-10]], et cetera), [[Windows (operating system)|Windows]], [[DOS]], some [[CP/M]] programs, [[OpenVMS]], and [[OS/2]] all use the slash to indicate [[command-line option]]s. For example, the command {{mono|dir/w}} is understood as using the command [[dir (command)|dir]] ("directory") with the "wide" option. Notice that no space is required between the command and the switch; this was the reason for the choice to use backslashes as the path separator since one would otherwise be unable to run a program in a different directory. Slashes are used as the standard delimiters for [[regular expression]]s, although other characters can be used instead. [[IBM JCL]] uses a double slash to start each line in a batch job stream except for /* and /&. ====Programs==== [[Internet Relay Chat|IRC]] and many in-game chat clients use the slash to mark commands, such as joining and leaving a chat room or sending private messages. For example, in IRC, {{mono|/join #services}} is a command to join the [[IRC channels|channel]] "services" and {{mono|/me}} is a command to format the following message as though it were an action instead of a spoken message. In ''[[Minecraft]]''{{'}}s chat function, the slash is used for executing console and plugin commands. In ''[[Second Life]]''{{'}}s chat function, the slash is used to select the "communications channel", allowing users to direct commands to virtual objects "listening" on different channels. For example, if a virtual house's lights were set to use channel 42, the command "/42 on" would turn them on. The [[Gedcom]] standard for exchanging computerized genealogical data uses slashes to delimit surnames. Example: Bill /Smith/ Jr. Slashes around surnames are also used in [[Personal Ancestral File]]. ===Currency=== The slash (as the "shilling mark" or "solidus")<ref>{{citation |last=Fowler |first=Francis George |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English |page=829 }}.</ref> was the [[currency sign]] of the shilling, a former [[coin]] of the United Kingdom and [[Commonwealth of Nations|its former colonies]]. Before the [[Decimal Day|decimalization of currency in Britain]], its currency symbols (collectively [[£sd]]) represented their [[Latin]] names, derived from a [[Carolingian Renaissance#Currency|medieval French modification]] of the late [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Ancient Roman units of measurement#Mass and coins|libra]], [[solidus (coin)|solidus]], and [[denarius]].<ref name="Ojima2004">{{citation |contribution=Money in Shakespeare |last=Ojima |first=Fumita |publisher=[[Toyo University]] Press |location=Tokyo |issue=63 |title=Journal of Business Administration |oclc=835683007 |page=113 |date=November 2004 |contribution-url=http://www.toyo.ac.jp/uploaded/attachment/2890.pdf |issn=0286-6439 |access-date=10 June 2014 |url-status=live |archive-date=10 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610101123/http://www.toyo.ac.jp/uploaded/attachment/2890.pdf |title-link=Journal of Business Administration (Toyo University) }}.</ref> Thus, one [[penny]] less than two [[pound sterling|pounds]] was written {{nowrap|£1 19s. 11d.}} During the period when [[English orthography]] included the [[long s]], {{char|ſ}}, the ſ came to be written as a single slash.<ref name="ChicagoMoSv13">{{citation |title=The Chicago Manual of Style, ''13th ed''. |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |date=1982 |page=676 |title-link=The Chicago Manual of Style }}.</ref><ref name="SSFCBE1994">{{citation |title=Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers |date=1994 |page=65 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |title-link=Scientific Style and Format |bibcode=1994ssfc.book.....S }}.</ref> The s. and the d. might therefore be omitted, and "2/6" meant "two shillings and sixpence". Amounts in full pounds, shillings and pence could be written in many different ways, for example: £1 9s 6d, £1.9.6, £1-9-6, and even £1/9/6d (with a slash used ''also'' to separate pounds and shillings).<ref>{{citation |publisher=University of Nottingham |title=Manuscripts and special Collections: Money |url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/weightsandmeasures/money.aspx |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref> In Britain, exactly five shillings was typically written "5∕-" while, in [[British East Africa|East Africa]], it was more common to mark it with a double hyphen as "5/=". The same style was also used under the [[British Raj]] and early independent India for the predecimalization [[Indian rupee|rupee]]/[[Indian anna|anna]]/[[Indian pie|pie]] system.<ref name="Pandey2007">{{citation |url=http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3367.pdf |date=7 October 2007 |archive-date=9 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509233828/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3367.pdf |url-status=live |title=Proposal to Encode North Indic Number Forms in ISO/IEC 10646 |last=Pandey |first=Anshuman |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] |page=8 }}.</ref> In decimalized currency, a slash followed by a dash {{angle brackets|/-}} continues to be used in some places to mark an exact amount of [[currency]] with no [[currency subunit|subunits]]. For example, "£50/-" is a variant of £50.00 and serves a similar function of providing clarity and ensuring that no further digits are added to the end of the number. The slash is used in [[Foreign exchange market|currency exchange]] [[Currency pair|rate notation]] to express [[exchange rate]]s, the ratio of the first currency in terms of the second. For example, EUR/USD ''x'' expresses that the value of 1 [[euro]] in terms of [[US dollar]]s is ''x''. This value may then be multiplied by any number of euros to find its value in dollars. ===Dates=== {{anchor|Dating}} Slashes are a common [[calendar date]] separator<ref name=solidhart/> used [[Date format by country|across many countries]] and by some standards such as the [[Common Log Format]] used by web servers. Depending on context, it may be in the form Day/Month/Year, Month/Day/Year, or Year/Month/Day. If only two elements are present, they typically denote a day and month in some order. For example, [[9/11]] is a common American way of writing the date 11 September and has become shorthand for the [[September 11 attacks|attacks on New York and Washington, DC]], which occurred on a day [[UK|Britons]] write as 11/9/2001. Owing to the ambiguity across cultures, the practice of using only two elements to denote a date is sometimes proscribed.<ref name=cms106>{{citation |title=The Chicago Manual of Style, ''16th ed''. |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |date=2016 |at=[http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch06/ch06_sec106.html 6.106] |title-link=The Chicago Manual of Style }}.</ref> Because of the world's many varying [[Date and time notation by country|conventional date and time formats]], [[ISO 8601]] advocates the use of a Year-Month-Day system separated by hyphens (e.g., [[Armistice Day]] first occurred on 1918-11-11). In the ISO 8601 system, slashes represent date ranges: "1939/1945" represents what is more commonly written with an en dash as "1935–1945" or with a hyphen as "1935-1945". The autumn term of a northern-hemisphere school year might be marked "2010-09-01/12-22". In English, a range marked by a slash often has a separate meaning from one marked by a dash or hyphen.<ref name=solidhart/> "24/25 December" would mark the time shared by both days (i.e., the night from [[Christmas Eve]] to [[Christmas Day|Christmas morning]]) rather than the time made up by both days together, which would be written "24–25 December". Similarly, a historical reference to "1066/67" might imply an event occurred during the winter of late 1066 and early 1067,<ref name=cms105>{{citation |title=The Chicago Manual of Style, ''16th ed''. |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |date=2016 |at=[http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch06/ch06_sec105.html 6.105] |title-link=The Chicago Manual of Style }}.</ref> whereas a reference to 1066–67 would cover the entirety of both years. The usage was particularly common in British English during [[World War II]], where such slash dates were used for [[night-bombing]] [[strategic bombing|air raids]]. It is also used by some police forces in the United States. ===Numbering=== The slash is used in numbering to note totals. For example, "page 17/35" indicates that the relevant passage is on the 17th page of a 35-page document. Similarly, the marking "#333/500" on a product indicates it is the 333rd out of 500 identical products or out of a batch of 500 such products. For scores on schoolwork, in games, &c., "85/100" indicates 85 points were attained out of a possible 100. Slashes are also sometimes used to mark ranges in numbers that already include hyphens or dashes. One example is the [[#Dating|ISO treatment of dating]]. Another is the [[US Air Force]]'s treatment of aircraft serial numbers, which are normally written to note the fiscal year and aircraft number. For example, "85-1000" notes the thousandth aircraft ordered in fiscal year 1985. To indicate the next fifty subsequent aircraft, a slash is used in place of a hyphen or dash: "85-1001/1050". ===Linguistic transcription=== {{main|International Phonetic Alphabet#Brackets and transcription delimiters}} A pair of slashes (as "[[#slants|slants]]") are used in the [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]] of [[speech]] to enclose [[pronunciation]]s (i.e., [[phonetic transcription]]s). For example, the [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] transcription of the English pronunciation of "solidus" is written {{IPA|/ˈsɒlɪdəs/}}.<ref name=oedsolid/> Properly, slashes mark [[phonemic transcription|broad or phonemic transcriptions]], whereas narrow, [[allophone|allophonic]] transcriptions are enclosed by [[square bracket]]s. For example, the word "little" may be broadly rendered as {{IPA|/ˈlɪtəl/}} but a careful transcription of the [[dark L|velarization of the second L]] would be written {{IPA|[ˈlɪɾɫ̩]}}. In [[sociolinguistics]], a double or triple slash may also be used in the transcription of a [[Sociolinguistics#Traditional sociolinguistic interview|traditional sociolinguistic interview]] or in other type of linguistic elicitation to represent simultaneous speech, interruptions, and certain types of [[speech disfluencies]]. Single and double slashes are often used as typographic substitutes for the [[click letter]]s [[ǀ]], [[ǁ]]. ===Letter=== The [[Iraqw language]] uses the slash as a letter, representing the [[voiced pharyngeal fricative]], as in [[:wikt:/ameeni|/ameeni]], "woman".<ref>Henry R. T. Muzale, Josephat M. Rugemalira, ''Researching and Documenting the Languages of Tanzania'' (2008): "Iraqw orthography includes two letters not used in writing Kiswa-hili, q for the voiceless uvular stop, and x for the voiceless velar fricative. It also uses symbols that are not even part of the Roman alphabet, including a slash / for the pharyngeal fricative, and an apostrophe ' for the glottal stop (Mous et al. 2002)."</ref> ===Line breaks=== {{anchor|Poetry}} The slash (as a "virgule") offset by spaces to either side is used to mark [[Line (poetry)|line breaks]] when transcribing text from a multi-line format into a single-line one.<ref name=solidhart/><ref name=cms27>{{citation |title=The Chicago Manual of Style, ''16th ed''. |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |date=2016 |at=[http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch13/ch13_sec027.html 13.27] |title-link=The Chicago Manual of Style }}.</ref> It is particularly common in quoting [[poetry]], [[lyrics|song lyrics]], and [[drama]]tic scripts, formats where omitting the line breaks risks losing meaningful context. For example, when quoting [[Hamlet]]'s [[soliloquy]] <poem> [[To be, or not to be]], that is the question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them...<ref>{{citation |last=Shakespeare |first=William |author-link=William Shakespeare |author-mask=Shakespeare |title=Hamlet |at=Act III, Scene ii|title-link=Hamlet }}.</ref> </poem> into a prose paragraph, it is standard to mark the line breaks as "To be, or not to be, that is the {{nowrap|question: /}} Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to {{nowrap|suffer /}} The slings and arrows of outrageous {{nowrap|[[Fortune (goddess)|Fortune]], /}} Or to take arms against a sea of {{nowrap|troubles, /}} And by opposing end them..." Less often, virgules are used in marking [[paragraph]] breaks when quoting a [[prose]] passage. Some style guides, such as ''[[New Hart's Rules|Hart's]]'', prefer to use a pipe {{char|{{!}}}} in place of the slash to mark these line and paragraph breaks.<ref name=solidhart/> The virgule may be thinner than a standard slash when typeset. In computing contexts, it may be necessary to use a [[non-breaking space]] before the virgule to prevent it from being [[widows and orphans|widowed]] on the next line. {{anchor|Derived units}} ===Abbreviation=== The slash has become standard in several abbreviations. Generally, it is used to mark two-letter [[initialism]]s such as A/C (short for "air conditioner"), w/o ("without"), b/w ("black and white" or, less often, "between"), w/e ("whatever" or, less often, "weekend" or "week ending"), i/o ("[[input/output]]"), r/w ("read/write"), and n/a ("not applicable"). Other initialisms employing the slash include w/ ("with") and w/r/t ("with regard to"). Such slashed abbreviations are somewhat more common in British English and were more common around the [[Second World War]] (as with "S/E" to mean "single-engined"). The abbreviation 24/7 (denoting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) describes a business that is always open or unceasing activity.<ref name=solidhart>{{citation |contribution=4.13.1 Solidus |contribution-url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/secondary/harts_rules/4-13-solidi-and-verticals |title=New Hart's Rules: The Oxford Style Guide |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/secondary/harts_rules/ |editor=Anne Waddingham |display-editors=0 |date=2014 |access-date=18 February 2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209182031/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/secondary/harts_rules/ |archive-date=9 February 2016 }}.</ref> The slash in [[derived unit]]s such as m/s (meters per second) is not an abbreviation slash, but a straight division. It is however in that position read as 'per' rather than e.g. 'over', which can be seen as analogous to units whose symbols are pure abbreviations such as mph (miles per hour), although in abbreviations 'per' is 'p' or dropped entirely (psi, pounds per square inch) rather than a slash. <!-- Negative example because previous content erroneously claimed the opposite. --> In the [[Government of the United States|US government]], the names of offices within various departments are abbreviated using slashes, starting with the larger office and following with its subdivisions. For example, the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]'s [[Office of Commercial Space Transportation]] is formally abbreviated FAA/AST. ===Proofreading=== The slash or vertical bar (as a "[[#separatrix|separatrix]]") is used in [[proofreading]] to mark the end of [[marginalia|margin notes]]{{NoteTag|For an example of this in practice, see the section on proofreading marks in ''[[New Hart's Rules]]''.<ref>{{citation |title = New Hart's Rules |contribution=Proofreading Marks |contribution-url = http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/external/files/Proofreading_Marks_New_Harts_Rules.pdf?version=2.9.77 }}.</ref>}} or to separate margin notes from one another. The slash is also sometimes used in various proofreading [[#Abbreviation|initialisms]], such as l/c and u/c for changes to [[lower case|lower]] and [[upper case]], respectively. ===Fiction=== The slash is used in [[fan fiction]] to mark the [[sexual attraction|romantic pairing]] a piece will focus upon (e.g., a K/S denoted a ''[[Star Trek]]'' story would focus on a sexual relationship between [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] and [[Spock]]), a usage which developed in the 1970s from the earlier friendship pairings marked by [[ampersand]]s (e.g., K&S). The genre as a whole is now known as [[slash fiction]]. Because it is more generally associated with [[male homosexuality|homosexual male]] relationships, lesbian slash fiction is sometimes distinguished as [[femslash]]. In situations where other pairings occur, the genres may be distinguished as m/m, f/f, &c. ===Libraries=== The slash is used under the [[AACR2|Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules]] to separate the title of a work from its statement of responsibility (i.e., the listing of its author, director, &c.). Like a [[#Line breaks|line break]], this slash is surrounded by a single space on either side. For example: * Gone with the Wind / by Margaret Mitchell. * Star Trek II. The Wrath of Khan [videorecording] / Paramount Pictures. The format is used in both [[card catalog]]s and online records. ===Addresses=== The slash is sometimes used as an abbreviation for building numbers. For example, in some contexts,{{where?|date=February 2016}} 8/A Evergreen Gardens specifies Apartment 8 in Building A of the residential complex Evergreen Gardens. In the United States, however, such an address refers to the first division of Apartment 8 and is simply a variant of Apartment 8A or 8-A. Similarly in the United Kingdom, an address such as 12/2 Anywhere Road means flat (or apartment) 2 in the building numbered 12 on Anywhere Road. ===Poetry=== The slash is used in various [[scansion]] notations for representing the metrical pattern of a line of verse, typically to indicate a stressed syllable. ===Music=== Slashes are used in [[musical notation]] as an alternative to writing out specific [[musical note|notes]] where it is easier to read than traditional notation or where the player can [[improvisation|improvise]]. They are commonly used to indicate [[chord (music)|chords]] either in place of or in combination with traditional notation and for [[drummer]]s as an indication to continue with the previously indicated style. ===Sports=== A slash is used to mark a [[Spare (bowling)|spare]] (knocking down all ten pins in two throws) when scoring [[ten-pin bowling|ten-pin]] and [[duckpin bowling]].<ref>{{citation |contribution-url=http://www.duckpins.com/scoring.htm |contribution=Scoring |url=http://www.duckpins.com |title=Duckpins |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316002728/http://www.duckpins.com/ |archive-date=16 March 2015 }}.</ref> {{anchor|Emoji}} ===Text messaging=== In online messaging, a slash might be used to imitate the formatting of a chat command (e.g., writing "/fliptable" as though there were such a command) or the closing tags of languages such as HTML (e.g., writing "/endrant" to end an ironic diatribe or "/s" to mark the preceding text as [[sarcasm|sarcastic]]). A pair of slashes is sometimes used as a way to mark [[italics|italic text]], where no special formatting is available (e.g., /italics/). A single slash is sometimes used as a way of expressing a [[check mark]], with the meaning "OK", "got it", "done", or "thanks". In Japan, a set of multiple slashes (typically three: ///) is used to convey [[shyness]] or [[embarrassment]], owing to the way [[blushing]] is depicted in [[manga]]. These slashes are usually placed at the end of a statement.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} ==Spacing== There are usually no spaces either before or after a slash. According to ''[[New Hart's Rules: The Oxford Style Guide]]'', a slash is usually written without spacing on either side when it connects single words, letters or symbols.<ref name=solidhart/> Exceptions are in [[Slash (punctuation)#Poetry|representing the start of a new line when quoting verse]], or a new paragraph when quoting prose. ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' also allows spaces when either of the separated items is a compound that itself includes a space: "Our New Zealand / Western Australia trip".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Punctuation/faq0096.html|title=Punctuation - FAQ Item [CMOS 6.104]|website=The Chicago Manual of Style Online|language=en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321090717/https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Punctuation/faq0096.html|archive-date=2016-03-21|access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref> (Compare [[Dash#Attributive compounds|use of an en dash used to separate such compounds]].) ''The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing'' prescribes, "No space before or after an oblique when used between individual words, letters or symbols; one space before and after the oblique when used between longer groups which contain internal spacing", giving the examples "n/a" and "Language and Society / ''Langue et société''".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=indx166&info0=7.02&info1=9.06|title=7.02 Spacing, 9.06 - The Canadian Style - TERMIUM Plus - Translation Bureau|last=Government of Canada|first=Public Works and Government Services Canada|date=2009-10-08|website=www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108032043/https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=indx166&info0=7.02&info1=9.06|archive-date=2018-11-08|access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref> According to ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', when typesetting a URL or computer path, line breaks should occur before a slash but not in the text between two slashes.<ref name="cms42">{{citation |title=The Chicago Manual of Style, ''16th ed''. |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |date=2016 |at=[http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/16/ch07/ch07_sec042.html 7.42] |title-link=The Chicago Manual of Style }}.</ref> ==Encoding== [[File:Big solidus in folder name compared with slash in text.png|thumb|Though the slash is a [[reserved character]] prohibited in Windows file and folder names, the '''big solidus''' is permitted (first box above). In this context, it is very similar to the slash (second box).]]As a very common character, the slash (as "slant") was originally encoded in [[ASCII]] with the decimal code 47 or [[hexadecimal|0x]]2F. The same value was used in [[Unicode]], which calls it "solidus" and also adds some more characters: * {{unichar|002F|solidus}} * {{unichar|2044|fraction slash|ulink=General Punctuation}} * {{unichar|2215|division slash|ulink=Mathematical Operators}} * {{unichar|29F8|big solidus}} * {{unichar|FF0F|fullwidth solidus}} ([[Halfwidth and fullwidth forms|fullwidth]] version of solidus) * {{unichar|1F67C|very heavy solidus}} In XML and HTML, the slash can also be represented with the [[List of XML and HTML character entity references|character entity]] {{mono|&amp;#47;}} or {{mono|&amp;#x2F;}} or {{mono|&amp;sol;}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Character Codes – HTML Codes, Hexadecimal Codes & HTML Names |url=http://www.character-code.com/|website=www.character-code.com|access-date=7 August 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807130637/http://www.character-code.com/|archive-date=7 August 2016}}</ref> ==Alternative names== {| class="wikitable" ! Name !! Use case |- | ''diagonal'' || An uncommon name for the slash in all its uses,<ref name="oedobli" /> but particularly the less vertical [[#fraction|fraction slash]].<ref>{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=diagonal, ''adj.'' and ''n.'' |date=1895 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> |- | ''division slash'' || Unicode's formal name for the variant of the slash used to mark [[#division|division]].<ref name="uni8" /> |- | ''forward slash'' || A [[retronym]] used to distinguish slash from a backslash following the popularization of MS-DOS and other Microsoft operating systems, which use the backslash for paths in its file system.<ref name="jed" /><ref name="turton">{{citation |last=Turton |first=Stuart |contribution-url=http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/352510/berners-lee-web-address-slashes-were-a-mistake |contribution=Berners-Lee: web address slashes were 'a mistake' |title=PC Pro |date=15 October 2009 |title-link=PC Pro }}.</ref> Less often ''forward stroke'' (UK), ''foreslash'', ''front slash'', and ''frontslash''. It is not unknown to even see such [[back-formations]] as ''reverse backslash''.<ref>{{citation |contribution-url=http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Office_Productivity/Office_Suites/MS_Office/Excel/Q_28409613.html |date=4 October 2012 |access-date=2 October 2014 |title=Experts Exchange |url=http://experts-exchange.com |contribution=Regex Pattern to Delete a Pattern I Need for Forward Backslash and Reverse Backslash |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141001171251/http://www.experts-exchange.com/ |archive-date=1 October 2014 }}.</ref> {{anchor|fraction}} |- | ''fraction slash'' || Unicode's formal name for the low slash used to mark fractions.<ref name="uni8" /> Also sometimes known as the ''fraction bar'', although this more properly refers to the horizontal bar. {{anchor|oblique}} |- | ''oblique'' || A formerly common name for the slash in all its uses.<ref name="oedobli">{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''3rd ed''. |contribution=oblique, ''adj., n.,'' and ''adv.'' |date=2004 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> Also ''oblique stroke'',<ref name="oedstroke" /><ref name="foldc" /> ''oblique dash'', &c. {{anchor|scratch|scratch comma}} |- | {{nowrap|''scratch comma''}} || A modern name for the virgule's historic use as a form of comma.<ref>{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=scratch, ''n.¹'' |date=1911 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> |- | ''separatrix'' || Originally, the [[vertical line]] separating integers from decimals before the advent of the [[decimal point]]; later used for the vertical bar or slash used in [[proofreader]]'s marginalia to denote the intended replacement for a letter or word [[strikethrough|struckthrough]] in proofed text<ref>{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=separatrix, ''n.'' |date=1912 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> or to separate margin notes.<ref>{{citation |contribution=separatrix |title=Merriam-Webster Online |access-date=11 February 2016 |contribution-url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/separatrix |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922151722/https://www.merriam-webster.com/ |archive-date=22 September 2017 }}.</ref> Sometimes misapplied to virgules. {{anchor|shilling}} |- | ''shilling mark'' || A development of the [[long S]] {{char|'''ſ'''}} used as a [[currency symbol]] for the [[Decimal Day|former]] English shilling ({{lang-la|[[solidus (coin)|solidus]]}}).<ref name="oedshill">{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=shilling, ''n.'' |date=1914 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> Also known as a ''shilling stroke''.<ref name="gtt93">{{citation |last=Eckersley |first=Richard |author2=Richard Angstadt |author3=Charles M. Ellertson |author4=Richard Hendel |author5=Naomi B. Pascal |author6=Anita Walker Scott |display-authors=1 |title=Glossary of Typesetting Terms |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeTnynRiN8AC |date=1994 |ref={{harvid|Eckersley & al.|1994}} |isbn=0-226-18371-8 |page=[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oeTnynRiN8AC&pg=PA93 93] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412024625/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oeTnynRiN8AC&printsec=frontcover |archive-date=12 April 2016 }}.</ref> Now obsolete except in historical contexts. {{anchor|slant|slants}} |- | ''slant'' || From its shape, an infrequent name except (as ''slants'') in its use to mark pronunciations off from other text<ref>{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=slant, ''n.¹'' |date=1911 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> and as the official ASCII name of the character.<ref name="hackersdictionary">{{citation |last=Raymond |first=Eric S |title=The Jargon File |url=http://www.catb.org/jargon/ |contribution-url=http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ASCII.html |contribution=ASCII |access-date=24 July 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721094959/http://www.catb.org/jargon/ |archive-date=21 July 2012 }}.</ref> Also ''slant line(s)'' or ''bar(s)''.<ref name="jed" /> |- | ''slash mark'' || An alternative name used to distinguish the punctuation mark from the word's other senses.<ref name=":0" />{{anchor|shilling}} |- | ''slat'' || An uncommon name for the slash used by the [[esoteric programming language]] [[INTERCAL]].<ref name="foldc" /> Also ''slak''.<ref name="foldc">{{citation |last=Howe |first=Denis<!--sic--> |contribution=oblique stroke |contribution-url=http://foldoc.org/oblique+stroke |url=http://foldoc.org |title=Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing |date=1996 |access-date=24 July 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729052149/http://foldoc.org/ |archive-date=29 July 2012 }}.</ref><ref name="hackersdictionary" /> |- | ''solidus'' || Another name for the shilling mark (from the Latin form of its name), also applied to other slashes separating numbers or letters,<ref name="oedsolid">{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=solidus, ''n.¹'' |date=1913 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> adopted by the [[International Standards Organization|ISO]] and [[Unicode Consortium|Unicode]]<ref name="uni8">{{citation |contribution-url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0000.pdf |contribution=C0 Controls and Basic Latin |date=2015 |url=https://www.unicode.org |title=Unicode |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925134725/http://www.unicode.org/ |archive-date=25 September 2017 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |contribution-url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/1.1-Update/UnicodeData-1.1.5.txt |contribution=Unicode 1.1 Composite Name List |date=July 1995 |title=Unicode |url=https://www.unicode.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925134725/http://www.unicode.org/ |archive-date=25 September 2017 }}.</ref> as their formal name for the slash. When used as a fraction bar, the solidus is less vertical than a standard slash, generally close to 45° and [[kerning|kerned]] on both sides;<ref name="bringhurst">{{cite book |last=Bringhurst |first=Robert |year=2002 |title=The Elements of Typographic Style |edition=3rd |publisher=Hartley & Marks |isbn=978-0-88179-206-5 |pages=81–82 |contribution=5.2.5: Use the Virgule with Words and Dates, the Solidus with Split-level Fractions |location=Point Roberts}}</ref> this use is distinguished by Unicode as the fraction slash.<ref name="uni8" /> (This use is sometimes mistakenly described as the ''sole'' meaning of "solidus", with its use as a shilling mark and slash distinguished under the name "virgule".)<ref name="bringhurst" /><ref name="designorati" /> The solidus's use as a division sign is distinguished as the division slash.<ref name="uni8" /> The "combining short" or "long solidus overlay" is a diagonal strikethrough.<ref name="uni8" /> |- | ''stroke'' || A common British name for the slash in nearly all its uses, a contraction of [[#oblique|oblique stroke]] popularized by its use in [[telegraph]]y.<ref name="oedstroke">{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=stroke, ''n.¹'' |date=1919 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> It is particularly employed in reading the mark out loud: "he stroke she" is the common British reading of "he/she". "Slash" has, however, become common in Britain in computing contexts, while some North American [[amateur radio]] enthusiasts employ the British "stroke". Less frequently, "stroke" is also used to refer to hyphens.<ref name="jed" /> {{anchor|virgule}} |- | ''virgule'' || A development of ''virgula'' ("twig"),<ref name="verg">{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=virgule, ''n.'' |date=1917 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> the original medieval Latin name of the character when it was used as a period, scratch comma,<ref name="virg">{{citation |title=Oxford English Dictionary, ''1st ed''. |contribution=virgula, ''n.'' |date=1917 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press }}.</ref> and caesura mark. Now primarily used as the name of the slash when it is used to mark line breaks in quotations.<ref name="verg" /> Sometimes mistakenly distinguished as a formal name for the slash, as against the solidus's supposed use as a fraction slash.<ref name="bringhurst" /><ref name="designorati">{{citation |last=Klein |first=Samuel John |contribution-url=http://designorati.com/articles/t1/typography/693/typography-words-of-the-day-slashes.php |contribution=Typography Words of the Day: Slashes |title=Designorati |date=3 March 2006 |access-date=16 February 2016 }}.</ref> Formerly sometimes [[anglicization|anglicized]] in British sources as the ''virgil''.<ref name="partridge" /> |} The slash may also be read out as ''and'', ''or'', ''and/or'', ''to'', or ''cum''<!--sic--> in some compounds separated by a slash; ''over'' or ''out of'' in fractions, division, and [[#Numbering|numbering]]; and ''per'' or ''a(n)'' in derived units (as km/h) and prices (as $~/kg), where the division slash stands for "each".<ref name="jed">{{citation |last=Hartman |first=Jed |contribution=A Slash by Any Other Name |contribution-url=http://www.kith.org/journals/neology/2011/12/a_slash_by_any_other_name.html |date=27 December 2011 |access-date=15 February 2016 |url=http://www.kith.org/journals/neology/ |title=Neology |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160223143409/http://www.kith.org/journals/neology/ |archive-date=23 February 2016 }}.</ref><ref>{{citation |contribution=slash |contribution-url=http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/slash.html |url=http://www.thepunctuationguide.com |title=The Punctuation Guide |access-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212161835/http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/ |archive-date=12 February 2016 }}</ref> ==See also== * [[Strikethrough]], including slashes through figures * [[Feynman slash notation]] in physics, which employs slash-like strikethroughs * [[≠|Inequality sign]], an equals sign with a slash-like strikethrough == Notes == {{NoteFoot}} ==References== {{reflist}} {{navbox punctuation}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Slash, Punctuation}} [[Category:Punctuation]]'