What do you call this symbol: #

[Bluestars]

I know it as the pound sign and the number sign

 

[PollyannaMom]

I voted "depends on where..." because I do primarily know it as a pound sign, but I actually think of it as a number sign (because I'm a math geek) and do know to say hashtag if I'm actually reading it out loud attached to a phrase.

 

[Missy1961]

I voted "depends on where..." because I do primarily know it as a pound sign, but I actually think of it as a number sign (because I'm a math geek) and do know to say hashtag if I'm actually reading it out loud attached to a phrase.

Yep, all three. It's a multasker, just like most of us.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

Number sign

 

[katie01]

I don't use Twitter. When I first read the post, "pound sign" popped into my head first. Mentally followed by "hash tag", then "number sign"

 

[Vijoge]

On a phone, it's a pound sign (press the # sign to continue)
On Twitter, it's a hashtag (follow me on twitter at #Iheartdis
On produce it's a pound (10# of potatoes)
On canned goods it's a size - a #10 can of peaches
On tic-tac-toe it's the game board

 

[mummabear]

We would call it the hash (as in enter the number followed by the hash key/symbol/button)

Hashtag is separate and more recent name since Twitter but I wouldn't expect the symbol to be called as hashtag

 

[jevs]

If you call it a pound sign in the UK they will think you mean £

This was my first thought.

 

[Domo]

A pound as in the British currency is £. What we have here is a hashtag. Or as I call it, Spiderman

 

[GaryDis]

I've seen # used to indicate the British Pound Sterling, back in the days when computers and their peripherals only handled 7-bit ASCII characters.

 

[Chaoster]

number sign

 

[monorailsilver]

Pound or number sign. My kids finally stopped looking at dh and I like we are crazy!

 

[rcchello]

If you are an older Bell Labs guy, you may call it an octothorpe. The asterisk and the pound sign on a touch tone (ancient term) phone were called the star key and the octothorpe respectively. More common the use was star key and pound key as in press star 7 or dial (ancient term) pound 23.

Remember rotary phones?

British Telecom apparently calls it a square!

 

[Flight]

Pound sign when using telephone and number sign when teaching students.

 

[Kellykins1218]

It's a pound sign

 

[ElsieAstronaut]

Always been a pound sign to me. I'm only 28.

 

[ford family]

I believe that originally it was symbol for "pound avoirdupois" as in weight and is a stylised version of "lb".
Nowadays it is more commonly known as a "hash" sign and denotes number.

ford family

 

[scrapquitler]

It's a pound sign, unless I'm posting on Instagram or Twitter and typing words right after it, then it's a hashtag. Though technically, the entire phrase that starts with the symbol is the hashtag. The symbol without words isn't a hashtag.

 

[daemom]

I have to regularly call a company and to go through the prompts, it tells me to "touch the pound, or hash sign".

 

[monsterkitty]

It's a sharp sign people!