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View Poll Results: How you call this symbol -

Voters
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  • hyphen

    8 57.14%
  • minus

    2 14.29%
  • dashes

    3 21.43%
  • something else - specify

    1 7.14%
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As titled suggested , How would you call this symbol - ( Just comes inbetween 0 and = symbol on your keyboard) hyphen or minus or somethings like dash. I ...
  1. #1
    Linux Guru Lakshmipathi's Avatar
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    Exclamation Is this - a Hyphen or a Minus ?

    As titled suggested , How would you call this symbol - ( Just comes inbetween 0 and = symbol on your keyboard) hyphen or minus or somethings like dash.

    I prefer to call it as hyphen though few of my friends call it as minus.
    what about you?
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  2. #2
    Linux Engineer Kieren's Avatar
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    I usually call it a hyphen when it's on it's own but I have been heard calling a minus and a dash depending on the context
    Linux User #453176

  3. #3
    Super Moderator MikeTbob's Avatar
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    Hyphen, the minus sign is on the far right of the keyboard in the numeric keypad.
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  4. #4
    Linux Guru techieMoe's Avatar
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    Depends entirely on the context for me. In the context of an equation, it's a minus. In the context of, say, a phone or serial number it's a dash. In the context of a sentence it's a hyphen.
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  5. #5
    Linux Engineer GNU-Fan's Avatar
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    In typesetting, the hyphen is said to be shorter than the minus.

    A dash, on the other hand, is longer than the minus sign. It is often written as "--" (2 minus signs) when the character set doesn't support it or the writer is lazy.

    Typesetting programs like LaTex and even most modern word processors recognize two consecutive - and merge them to one slightly longer one (less than two minuses in length).

    LaTex translates the single "-" to the shorter one if found among text, but the larger variant if used in math mode.

    EDIT:
    Wow, the Wikipedia article on this is really verbose.
    Dash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    EDIT2:
    It seems like the inventors supposed it to be really context-depending from the start
    Hyphen-minus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Last edited by GNU-Fan; 11-25-2009 at 04:45 PM.
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  6. #6
    Linux Guru Lazydog's Avatar
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    Depends on whom I am talking to. Most of my client/users understand dash better and know what I am talking about. If I told them to use a hyphen they would surely ask what I am talking about and where it is located on he keyboard.

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  7. #7
    Trusted Penguin Roxoff's Avatar
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    In an English sentence, it's a 'dash'.

    In a string of numbers it's a minus or, if you're a kid, a 'take away'

    Of course, if you're a proper geek, it's colloquially known as 0x2D...
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  8. #8
    oz
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    didn't vote...

    I call it all of the above, depending on how it is being used.
    oz

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  9. #9
    Blackfooted Penguin daark.child's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by techieMoe View Post
    Depends entirely on the context for me. In the context of an equation, it's a minus. In the context of, say, a phone or serial number it's a dash. In the context of a sentence it's a hyphen.
    Same here.

  10. #10
    Linux Enthusiast cousinlucky's Avatar
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    Ditto for me to TechieMoe's explanation.
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