http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=1167238


in reply to Re: What is your favorite alternate name for a (specific) keyboard key?
in thread What is your favorite alternate name for a (specific) keyboard key?

The question was what do you call the key. In most cases, people use the "bottom" or non-shifted version of the symbol as the key's "name". One notable exception to that is the backtick, which most people seem to ignore and just refer to as the tilde, hence the option. Well, at least that's why i suggested it like that. :)

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Re^3: What is your favorite alternate name for a (specific) keyboard key?
by hippo (Bishop) on Jul 05, 2016 at 15:55 UTC

    On a UK QWERTY keyboard the backtick and tilde keys are not only different keys but also widely separated. I don't think you would ever find a British hacker referring to the backtick key as "tilde" or vice-versa.

      Fascinating. That's a nice tidbit of information there.

      I guess that means it isn't your favourite then. :)

Re^3: What is your favorite alternate name for a (specific) keyboard key?
by ww (Archbishop) on Jul 05, 2016 at 22:31 UTC

    That suggests a problem with the poll's conflation of Backspace / Delete as those are two distinct keys in the US QWERTY layouts I've seen and perform distinctly different actions on WinDoze boxen.


    Quis custodiet ipsos custodes. Juvenal, Satires

      As everyone here surely knows; the only logical solution is to create one version of this poll for every keyboard layout in existence, then carefully normalize the results to an imaginary universal keyboard layout while weighing for distribution and demographics. I really see no other solution to this problem. It will be a massive undertaking but the knowledge gained from such a project would benefit all of mankind in the form of unique insight that can be used as a foundation for the development of even more keyboard layouts. Ultimately, you should be able to get a keyboard uniquely tailored to fit your DNA while at the same time be able to read any description of a key sequence or have one explained to you over the phone without the risk of misunderstanding.

      This really goes without saying :-P

      -- FloydATC

      Time flies when you don't know what you're doing

      This much i know, as they are different keys on my keyboard and i use them quite a bit.

      The reason i conflated the two is that some keyboards do not separate the two keys, and as such, it can have different names.

Re^3: What is your favorite alternate name for a (specific) keyboard key?
by soonix (Canon) on Jul 05, 2016 at 20:28 UTC
    yes, that explains it. I am used to german keyboard layouts (QWERTZ), where the tilde originally was absent. Meanwhile it is on our keycaps, but I'm not sure about its "canonical" location :-)
      german keyboard layouts (QWERTZ), where the tilde originally was absent.

      Are you sure? The tilde was available at least on all PC/AT keyboards I've ever owned since the 1980s.

      Meanwhile it is on our keycaps, but I'm not sure about its "canonical" location

      ~ is usually (DOS, OS/2, Windows, Linux, *BSD) mapped to [AltGr] + [+*]. Macs, typewriters and home computers may be different.

      See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_keyboard_layout.

      Alexander

      --
      Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)
        Seems like you caught me here - my memory looks more like this :-)