-- DO NOT ADD THE "ASTERISK PBX" TO THIS ARTICLE- IT IS ALREADY LISTED VIA THE LINKED DAB PAGE
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- '''), is a Typographical symbol or Glyph . It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (Latin ''astrum''). Computer scientists and mathematicians often pronounce it as '''star''' (as, for example, in ''the A--- Search Algorithm '' or '' C--- Algebra '').
The asterisk derives from the need of the printers of family trees in feudal times for a symbol to indicate date of birth. The original shape was six-armed, each arm like a teardrop shooting from the center. For this reason, in some computer circles it is called a , perhaps due to the "squashed-bug" appearance of the asterisk on many early line printers.
The
Many cultures have their own unique version of the asterisk. In Japan a character with a similar use looks like an is six-pointed. In some fonts the asterisk is five-pointed and the Arabic star is eight-pointed.
The symbols are compared below (the display depends on your browser's font).
- The asterisk is used to call out a Footnote , especially when there is only one on the page. Less commonly, multiple asterisks are used to denote different footnotes on a page. (i.e., ---,
--,
-)
- Three spaced asterisks centered on a page may represent a jump to a different scene or thought. See Horizontal Rule .
- One or more asterisks may be used to replace portions of a Profanity to reduce offence such as the word being beeped or censored for. Example: S
--t
- It is also common to use asterisks as bullets for list items.
- Asterisks can be used to ---emphasize---.
- also referred to as "Upper K Star". This definition/term is/was used by many instructors of Electric Keyboarding.
- Asterisks can also be used as scoring system, eg. in movie reviews. See Star (classification) .
In Computer Science , the asterisk is used in Regular Expression s to denote zero or more repetitions of a pattern; this use is known as the '' Kleene Star '' or ''Kleene closure'' after Stephen Kleene .
In the Unified Modeling Language , the asterisk is used to denote zero to many classes.
- and D---ment--- would return this file.
In some graphical interfaces, particularly Microsoft applications, an asterisk is prepended to the current working document name shown in a window's title bar to indicate that unsaved changes exist.
In Commodore (and related) filesystems, an asterisk appearing next to a filename in a directory listing denotes an improperly closed file, commonly called a "splat file."
Many Programming Language s and Calculator s use the asterisk as a symbol for Multiplication . It also has a number of special meanings in specific languages, for instance:
- In some programming languages such as the C Programming Language , the asterisk is used to dereference or to declare a pointer variable.
- In the Common Lisp programming language, the names of Global Variable s are conventionally set off with asterisks, ---LIKE-THIS---.
- In the Fortran programming language, and in some dialects of the Pascal Programming Language , a double asterisk is used to signify Exponentiation : 5
--3 is 5---5---5 or 125.
- In the Perl Programming Language , the asterisk is used to refer to the ''typeglob'' of all variables with a given name.
- In the programming languages Ruby and Python , --- has two specific uses. Firstly, the unary --- operator applied to a list object inside a function call will expand that list into the arguments of the function call. Secondly, a parameter preceded by --- in the parameter list for a function will result in any extra parameters being aggregated into a Tuple (Python) or Array (Ruby).
The asterisk has many uses in Mathematics . The following list is not exhaustive.
The asterisk is also often used, in all branches of mathematics, to designate a correspondence between two mathematical entities represented by a single letter — one with the asterisk and one without.
In fine Mathematical Typography , the Unicode character U+2217 () "math asterisk" is available (HTML entity ∗). This character also appeared in the position of the regular asterisk in the PostScript symbol character set in the ''Symbol'' font included with Windows and Macintosh operating systems and with many printers. It should be used in fine typography for a large asterisk that lines up with the other mathematical operators.
A group of three asterisks arranged in a triangular formation is called an Asterism .
- In human genetics, --- is used to denote that someone is a member of a haplogroup and not any of its subclades (see --- (haplogroup) ).
- NOT--- ADD THE ASTERISK PBX HERE. IT IS REFERENCED VIA THE DISAMBIG AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE, AND THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT THE SYMBOL ITSELF, NOT THINGS NAMED AFTER IT
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On a Touch-Tone Telephone keypad, the asterisk (called ''star'', or less commonly, ''palm'' or ''sextile''1) is one of the two special keys, and is found to the left of the zero (the other is the Number Sign (''pound sign'' or ''hash'' or, less commonly, ''octothorp'')).
- In lieu of typographical formatting denoting Emphasis (e.g., commonly, Italics ), a word or phrase may be bracketed by asterisks ---like this---, especially in E-mail or other text-based communications where multiple Typefaces are not available — i.e. in Plain Text .
- In informal written communications, particularly those via ---), especially in text RPG s where unformatted text denotes speech. Compare with the usage of the Colon .
- In Chatrooms and Instant Messaging , an asterisk is often used to correct a Typo . Usage varies on whether the asterisk comes before or after the correction. For example:
:Alice: What do yuo think
Note that because Bob wishes to correct himself again, he may decide to use two asterisks to show that his first correction was in reality, not correct.
- As in written text, asterisks may be used as bullets for list items.
- In Cricket , it signifies a total number of runs scored by a batsman without losing his wicket, e.g. 107--- means '107 Not Out '. When written before a player's name on a scorecard, it indicates the Captain .
- It is also used on television when giving a career statistic during a match. For example, 47--- in a number of matches column means that the current game is the player's 47th.
- In Economics , the use of an asterisk after a letter indicating a Variable such as Price , Output , or Employment indicates that the variable is at its optimal level (that which is achieved in a perfect market situation). For instance, ''p''--- is the price level ''p'' when output ''y'' is at its corresponding optimal level of ''y''---.
- In the GCSE examination and PSLE , A--- ("''A''-star") is a special top grade that is distinguished from grade A.
- Certain categories of character types in ''), and this usage has spread to other games with similar character-type supplements. For example, '' Dungeons & Dragons '' Third Edition has had several lines of splatbooks: the "X & Y" series including ''Sword & Fist'' and ''Tome & Blood'' prior to the "3.5" revision, the "Complete X" series including ''Complete Warrior'' and ''Complete Divine'', and the "Races of X" series including ''Races of Stone'' and ''Races of the Wild''.
- In many MUD s and MOO s, as well as "male", "female", and other more esoteric genders, there is a gender called "splat", which uses an asterisk to replace the letters that differ in standard English gender pronouns. For example, ''h---'' is used rather than ''him'' or ''her''. Also, asterisks are used to signify doing an action, for example, "---''action''---"
- In recent years, the asterisk has come into use on scorecards to denote a "great defensive play." Baseball Almanac - Scoring Baseball: Advanced Symbols
- In colloquial usage, an asterisk is used to indicate that a Record is somehow tainted by circumstances, which are putatively explained in a footnote supposedly referenced by the asterisk.See e.g. 2 This usage arose after the 1961 baseball season in which Roger Maris of the New York Yankees broke Babe Ruth 's 34-year-old single-season Home Run record. Because Ruth had amassed 60 home runs in a season with only 154 games, compared to Maris's 61 over 162 games, baseball commissioner Ford Frick announced that Maris' accomplishment would be recorded in the record books with an explanation (often referred to as "an asterisk" in the retelling). In fact, Major League Baseball has no official record book, but the stigma remained with Maris for many years, and the concept of a real or figurative asterisk denoting less-than-official records has become widely used in sports and other competitive endeavors. A 2001 TV Movie about Maris' record-breaking season was called '' 61--- '' (pronounced ''sixty-one asterisk'') in reference to the controversy. Fans critical of Barry Bonds also taunted him with asterisks as he approached and later broke Hank Aaron 's career home run record.
- In Programs distributed at Race Track s, an asterisk next to a Jockey 's name indicates that he or she is an Apprentice , and in many cases is allowed to ride at a slightly lesser weight than the other jockeys. Such a jockey is sometimes called a “bug boy” for obvious reasons.
See Also: Asterisk (disambiguation)
- David Crowder Band often includes an asterisk in their logo as such: David Crowder---Band
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers use an 8-pronged asterisk as their symbol.
- The name of the Boy Band NSYNC is often stylized as "---NSYNC" or "N---SYNC".
- The popular Japanese Hip Hop/Rock group Orange Range has a song titled " ---~Asterisk ", which is also the first opening theme song for the popular Anime Bleach .
- In the King Of The Hill episode "Bills Are Made To Be Broken", Hank Hill pleads for an asterisk next to a football record in the record books: "Mr. Chairman, I would like to respectfully submit that you put an asterisk next to Ricky Suggs's name in the record book. And that asterisk should read: ''This record was attained through the use of fraud and bad sportsmanship''."
- The fictional comic-book character, Asterix the Gaul, is a pun on Asterisk as he is the "star" of the show.
- In an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond , Ray Barone (portrayed by Ray Romano) recognizes that he pronounces the word "Asterisk" "Astericks". This was never corrected in future episodes but Ray Barone never spoke the word again.
- In Pat Cadigan 's novel Synners , a character sees a sign that says "U B THE ---" and reads it as "You Be the Ass To Risk".
- In a song by Lil Wayne called "Back On My Grizzy" from, his mixtape "Da Drought 3", he says in a line "I'm a crazy ass star like a fucking asterisk"
See Also: Character encoding
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