ChatterBank1 min ago
# - why do Americans call it a POUND sign
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I can quite easily imagine an American trader shipping six crates (rather than carrots!) using the same sign to indicate a given crate's position in a sequence. "#3" = Crate No 3. This would make it easy for both the person taking delivery and himself to check the load was complete.
In other words, a common trading symbol everyone was familiar with was simply adapted to perform a different - but really quite similar - function. This is just how language/communication actually works. Things change...as a young man - a long time ago! - I would have been quite happy to tell friends that I had attended a 'gay' party the evening before. (It meant bright, cheerful etc then.) I'd think twice about that now!
Anyway, there's a stab at actually answering your question in toto.
In other words, a symbol that was well known to traders was simply adapted to another use. This is, after all, exactly what happens to language/communication all the time. As a young man - a long time ago! - I would have been perfectly happy to tell my friends that I had attended a 'gay' party the evening before. (It meant bright, cheerful etc then.) I'd think twice about saying any such thing nowadays! Things change and that's all there is to it.
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