#

Watching Jeopardy each night is a humbling experience. Aside from marveling at the correct answers to clues that I'm often convinced no one will know (and sometimes no one does know, except host Ken Jennings who has all the answers), I learn something I never expected. Did you know the symbol # has a formal name? I bet you didn't. Octothorpe.

An AI generated Google response tells us:

The formal word for the hashtag symbol is "octothorpe". The word "octo" refers to the eight points in the symbol, and "Thorpe" may come from the surname Thorpe. [Is that a wild guess?]

The hashtag symbol (#) has been referred to as the pound sign, crosshatch, and hash mark. The term "hash" may have originated from the phrase "hash mark".  [Wow, what are the chances of that?]

The hashtag was originally designed for categorizing posts on Twitter, but now it's commonly used to supplement or comment on text or images. [Whatever you say.]

It's a new Jeopardy season, so we're not made to look too stupid by the prosaic contestants who are first-timers. I don't remember the category, or the phrasing that involved "octothorpe" but the word was part of the clue. Hashtag was the answer.

I think it was the middle contestant, an active-duty Navy Lieutenant Commander, who correctly fielded the clue, and who who went on to win the mach. He'll be back tonight.

Thankfully, no automated message has never told anyone to hit the "octothorpe" sign when they are finished. Everyone would still be on phone looking for the right key to press. 

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