Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!yale-com!leichter From: leichter@yale-com.UUCP (Jerry Leichter) Newsgroups: net.nlang,net.misc Subject: Re: "Re: What do you call characters?" Message-ID: <1729@yale-com.UUCP> Date: Sun, 10-Jul-83 18:06:24 EDT Article-I.D.: yale-com.1729 Posted: Sun Jul 10 18:06:24 1983 Date-Received: Fri, 15-Jul-83 04:25:24 EDT References: nsc.327 Lines: 60 Back in 1973, two friends at Princeton, Don Woods (now at SRI?) and Jim Lyons, designed, documented, and actually implemented a language called Intercal (which stood for "Compiler Language With No Pronouncable Acronym"). It was a marvelous spoof, too complex to go into in detail here; but it came complete with an Appendix defining the Official Intercal Character Set. Note: This was on an IBM 360/91, fed by good ol' 80-column punch cards - remember those? A couple of the characters are overstruck - you simply punched two characters into the same column on the card. The Intercal compiler would print such characters correctly, if I remember right. Of course, not every overstrike made sense; combining some pairs of punches results in a combination of holes on the card that aren't read as meaningful data - so some of the overstruck combinations needed "for symmetry" aren't in the character set. Character Name . spot : two-spot , tail ; hybrid [Ed: of tail and two-spot] # mesh = half-mesh ' spark ` backspark ! wow ? what " rabbit-ears " over . rabbit (not a valid punch card code!) | spike % double-oh-seven - worm < angle > right angle (Note: These make more sense in: <- angle worm) ( wax ) wane [ U turn ] U turn back { embrace } bracelet * splat & ampersand [Ed: They ask for a better idea. I've always been partial to "andpersand", a coinage of the Department of Redun- dancy Department.] V book V over - bookworm (or universal quantifier) $ big-money [cent-sign] change ~ sqiggle [sic] _ flat worm overline + intersection / slat \ backslat @ whirlpoolhook (character looks line an upper-right-hand corner) ^ shark (or simply sharkfin) multiple over- blotch struck chars -- Jerry decvax!yale-comix!leichter leichter@yale