Table of Contents
What did a forward slash used to be called?
In the 18th century, the mark was generally known in English as the “oblique”. The variant “oblique stroke” was increasingly shortened to “stroke”, which became the common British name for the character, although printers and publishing professionals often instead referred to it as an “oblique”.
What is the name of the slash symbol?
The slash (/)—sometimes called a slant, a solidus, a stroke, or a virgule—is a commonly used symbol in the English language.
Why is it called backslash?
This was commonly used in math formulas to represent division. It is called a backslash because it is usually made with a back motion, starting at its top and pulled down and back. Occasionally it was simply called a slash. Along comes computers and DOS.
Is there a space before a slash?
A. If the slash divides two words, there is no space. If it divides two phrases or sentences (or a single word from a phrase), it requires a space before and after.
Where is the opposite slash on the keyboard?
On English PC and Mac keyboards, the backslash key is also the pipe key. It is located above the Enter key (Return key), and below the Backspace key. Pressing \ key creates a backslash.
Who invented the backslash?
Alternatively referred to as a backward slash, downward slash, and reverse solidus, the backslash is a character ( \ ) first introduced by Bob Bemer in 1960. Although “slash” is most often used to describe the forward slash, it can describe either a forward slash or backslash.
What is the difference between a slash and a backslash?
A good way to remember the difference between a backslash and a forward slash is that a backslash leans backwards ( \ ), while a forward slash leans forward ( / ). In Windows, backslashes are used to separate directories in file paths (ex: C:\Program Files\Common Files\microsoft shared\).