Editing Slash (punctuation) (section)

==Alternative names==

{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Used for
|-
| ''diagonal'' || An uncommon name for the slash in all its uses,<ref name="oedobli" />
|-
| ''division slash'' || This is the Unicode Consortium's formal name for the variant of the slash used to mark [[#division|division]].<ref name="uni8">{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0000.pdf |title=C0 Controls and Basic Latin |date=2015 |publisher=Unicode Cosortium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230913063618/https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0000.pdf |archive-date=13 September 2023}}</ref> ({{unichar|2215|Division slash}})
|-
| ''forward slash'' || A [[retronym]] used to distinguish slash from a backslash following the popularization of MS-DOS and other Microsoft operating systems, which use the backslash for paths in its file system.<ref name="jed" /><ref name="turton" /> Less often ''forward stroke'' (UK), ''foreslash'', ''front slash'', and ''frontslash''. It is possible even to see such [[back-formations]] as ''reverse backslash''.<ref>Example of usage of "reverse backslash": {{cite web |url=http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Office_Productivity/Office_Suites/MS_Office/Excel/Q_28409613.html |date=4 October 2014 |access-date=2 October 2014 |work=Experts Exchange |author=Fordraiders |title=Regex pattern to delete a pattern i need for forward backslash and reverse backslash |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416101532/https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28409613/regex-pattern-to-delete-a-pattern-i-need-for-forward-backslash-and-reverse-backslash.html |archive-date=16 April 2023}}</ref>
|-
| ''{{vanchor|fraction}} slash'' || This is the Unicode Consortium's formal name for the low slash used to mark fractions.<ref name="uni8" /> ({{unichar|2044|Fraction slash}})<br />Also sometimes known as the [[fraction bar]], although this more commonly refers to the horizontal bar style, as in {{sfrac|1|2}}. When used as a fraction bar, this form of the mark is less vertical than an ASCII slash, generally close to 45° and [[kerning|kerned]] on both sides;<ref name="bringhurst">{{cite book |last=Bringhurst |first=Robert |date=2002 |title=The Elements of Typographic Style |edition=3rd |publisher=Hartley & Marks |isbn=978-0-88179-206-5 |pages=81–82 |contribution=5.2.5: Use the Virgule with Words and Dates, the Solidus with Split-level Fractions |location=Point Roberts}}</ref> this use is distinguished by Unicode as the fraction slash.<ref name="uni8" /> (This use is sometimes mistakenly described as the ''sole'' meaning of "solidus", with its use as a shilling mark and slash distinguished under the name "virgule".<ref name="bringhurst" /><ref name="designorati" />)
|-
| ''{{vanchor|oblique}}'' || A formerly common name for the slash in all its uses.<ref name="oedobli" /> Also ''oblique stroke'',<ref name="oedstroke" /><ref name="foldc" /> ''oblique dash'', etc.
|-
| <span class="anchor" id="scratch"></span>{{nowrap|''{{vanchor|scratch comma}}''}} || A modern name for the virgule's historic use as a form of comma.<ref>{{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=1st |contribution=scratch, ''n.¹'' |date=1911 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
|-
| ''separatrix'' || Originally, the [[vertical line]] separating integers from decimals before the advent of the [[decimal point]]; later used for the vertical bar or slash used in [[proofreader]]'s marginalia to denote the intended replacement for a letter or word [[strikethrough|struckthrough]] in proofed text<ref>{{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=1st |contribution=separatrix, ''n.'' |date=1912 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> or to separate margin notes.<ref>{{cite web |title=separatrix |work=Merriam-Webster Online |access-date=11 February 2016 |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/separatrix |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708105311/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/separatrix |archive-date=8 July 2023}}</ref> Sometimes misapplied to virgules.
|-
|''{{vanchor|shilling}} mark'' || A development of the [[long S]] {{char|'''ſ'''}} used as an abbreviation for the (obsolete) [[Shilling (British coin)|British shilling]] ({{langx|la|[[solidus (coin)|solidus]]}}),<ref name="oedshill" /> and also for some modern-day currencies (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia), where it sometimes takes the place of a decimal point. The 'slash' is known as a "shilling stroke".<ref name="Eckersley et al" />
|-
|<span class="anchor" id="slants"></span>''{{vanchor|slant}}'' || From its shape, an infrequent name except (as ''slants'') in its use to mark pronunciations off from other text<ref>{{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=1st |contribution=slant, ''n.¹'' |date=1911 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> and as the original [[ASCII]] name of the character.{{ref RFC|20}} Also ''slant line(s)'' or ''bar(s)''.<ref name="jed" />
|-
| ''slash mark'' || An alternative name used to distinguish the punctuation mark from the word's other senses.<ref>{{cite dictionary | dictionary= Webster's Third New International Dictionary |date=1961 |entry =Slash (n) |quote='''5''' ''also'' slash mark: {{resize|DIAGONAL : 4}} |url=https://archive.org/details/webstersthirdnew0000phil/page/2138/mode/1up}}</ref>
|-
| ''slat'' || An uncommon name for the slash used by the [[esoteric programming language]] [[INTERCAL]].<ref name="foldc" /> Also ''slak''.<ref name="foldc">{{cite web |last=Howe |first=Denis<!--sic--> |title=oblique stroke |url=http://foldoc.org/oblique+stroke |work=Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing |date=1996 |access-date=24 July 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609012428/http://foldoc.org/oblique+stroke |archive-date=9 June 2023}}</ref>
|-
| ''solidus'' || Another name for the mark (derived from the Latin form of 'shilling'), also applied to other slashes separating numbers or letters,<ref name="oedsolid" /> used in typography,<ref name="bringhurst" /> and adopted by the [[International Standards Organization|ISO]] and [[Unicode Consortium|Unicode]]<ref name="uni8" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/Public/1.1-Update/UnicodeData-1.1.5.txt |title=Unicode 1.1 Composite Name List, including default properties |date=5 July 1995 |work=Unicode.org |publisher=Unicode Consortium |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516193350/https://www.unicode.org/Public/1.1-Update/UnicodeData-1.1.5.txt |archive-date=16 May 2023}}</ref> as their formal name for the ASCII slash ("slant"). ({{unichar|002F|Solidus}})

The solidus's use as a division sign is distinguished as the division slash.<ref name="uni8" />
|-
| ''stroke'' || A contraction of the phrase [[#oblique|oblique stroke]], used in [[telegraph]]y.<ref name="oedstroke">{{cite book |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=1st |contribution=stroke, ''n.¹'' |date=1919 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> It is particularly employed in reading the mark out loud: "he stroke she" is a common British reading of "he/she". "Slash" has, however, become common in Britain in computing contexts, while some North American [[amateur radio]] enthusiasts employ the British "stroke". Less frequently, "stroke" is also used to refer to hyphens.<ref name="jed" />
|-
| ''{{vanchor|virgule}}'' || A development of ''virgula'' ("twig"),<ref name="virg" /> the original medieval Latin name of the character when it was used as a scratch comma and caesura mark.<ref name="virg" />  Now primarily used as the name of the slash when it is used to mark line breaks in quotations.{{cn|date=September 2023}} Sometimes mistakenly distinguished as a formal name for the slash, as against the solidus's supposed use as a fraction slash.<ref name="bringhurst" /><ref name="designorati">{{cite web |last=Klein |first=Samuel John |url=http://designorati.com/articles/t1/typography/693/typography-words-of-the-day-slashes.php |title=Typography Words of the Day: Slashes |work=Designorati |date=3 March 2006 |access-date=16 February 2016 |archive-date=24 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160224122041/http://designorati.com/articles/t1/typography/693/typography-words-of-the-day-slashes.php |url-status=usurped}}</ref> Formerly sometimes [[anglicization|anglicized]] in British sources as the ''virgil''.<ref name="partridge" />
|}

The slash may also be read out as ''and'', ''or'', ''and/or'', ''to'', or ''cum''<!--sic--> in some compounds separated by a slash; ''over'' or ''out of'' in fractions, division, and [[#Numbering|numbering]]; and ''per'' or ''a(n)'' in derived units (as km/h) and prices (as $~/kg), where the division slash stands for "each".<ref name="jed" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Slash |url=http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/slash.html |work=The Punctuation Guide |access-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512141748/http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/slash.html |archive-date=12 May 2023}}</ref>