Talk:Prime (mark)
From Academic Kids
Minutes, seconds, feet, inches
According to the unicode names list,
0022 QUOTATION MARK
* neutral (vertical), used as opening or closing quotation mark
* preferred characters in English for paired quotation marks are 201C & 201D
x (modifier letter double prime - 02BA)
x (combining double acute accent - 030B)
x (combining double vertical line above - 030E)
x (double prime - 2033)
x (ditto mark - 3003)
0027 APOSTROPHE
= APOSTROPHE-QUOTE
= APL quote
* neutral (vertical) glyph with mixed usage
* 2019 is preferred for apostrophe
* preferred characters in English for paired quotation marks are 2018 & 2019
x (modifier letter prime - 02B9)
x (modifier letter apostrophe - 02BC)
x (modifier letter vertical line - 02C8)
x (combining acute accent - 0301)
And
2032 PRIME
= minutes, feet
2033 DOUBLE PRIME
= seconds, inches
The difference is that ' and " are vertical, while ′ and ″ are slanted slightly (which is how I've always seen inches and feet anyway). --Elektron 09:27, 2004 Jun 14 (UTC)
"dash"
I once worked with a guy from North England who always called the prime a "dash". I never asked him about it, though. Is such usage widespread enough to merit a mention here? 130.188.8.9 14:43, 13 Sep 2004 (UTC)
After being taught in an 'international' (read: Englishy) school in Hong Kong, and being in a UK uni, I can assure you that "dash" is common British usage (with people saying dash more than prime). I'm sure I hear "f dashed", too. But a dash most certainly looks more like "-" (and I've never heard of an "em-hyphen"), so I don't know where the usage comes from. For the record, I like to slant my primes a lot, so it's more obvious (otherwise it looks like a 1 or a single quote). Feel free to add it, though (if anyone can figure out where the usage comes from, that would be good too). The closest dictionary definition is "A quick stroke, as with a pencil or brush.", which is pretty vague. And "double-prime" sounds a lot better than "double-dash". Elektron 18:28, 2004 Nov 1 (UTC)
History of "prime" symbol
As per Quiddities, W. V. Quine. -- Dominus 19:33, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)
