Talk:Virgule

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FOLDOC definition?[edit]

I have seen the following in the The Free Online Dictionary of Computing edited by Denis Howe

Virgule[edit]

Rare, and ambiguous: slash or comma. "Virgule" (or rather, Latin "virgula", meaning "little rod" or, vividly enough, "little penis") was the name of a punctuation character shaped like a small slash and used in the Latin writing system much like a modern comma -- hence the ambiguity of this term in modern English. Compare French "virgule" and Italian "virgola", meaning "comma" (not "slash"); Italian "doppia virgola" and "virgoletta", both meaning "double quote".

This would indicate that a straight re-direct to slash is an over simplification. 158.234.10.144 @ 2004-11-08T07:08:44‎

I believe that semantic generalisation from the meaning you quoted led to a solidus of any size or arrangement to be referred to by this word. It is well-attested. Arlo James Barnes 17:40, 9 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]