K: We need to talk about group

Post by jazzyjackson » Sun, Apr 02, 2023, 7:04 PM UTC

wruza wrote: post #100

pavlov wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you see the following: x = √y … would you pronounce it as “x, two parallel horizontal lines, V with a left hook, y”? The symbols have a meaning that’s unrelated to their appearance. It’s the same in APL. The “square c” is just like “V with a left hook”.

And octothorp (#) is “eight-something”. Circumflex (^) is “bent around”. Names of most characters only sound academic because we don’t know Latin and Greek too good. “√” isn’t even a natural character, it’s a graphical delineator between an index and a radicand, similar to ÷ or % forms of division. By “obelus” (sharpened stick) do you mean dot above and below a line, a percent, a dagger or just a line? Sure there wil…