1. colorthemap

    colorthemap New Member

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    ~ and {}

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by colorthemap, Jan 1, 2011.

    A simple question what they used for in English outside of programming and math of course.
     
  2. Youniquee

    Youniquee (◡‿◡✿) Contributor

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    I've always wondered myself... especially about ~
     
  3. colorthemap

    colorthemap New Member

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    I how {} is used in programming(I will save you all the talk but if you program you should know about it) and for domain and range in math.

    Could {} be used when you need parenthesis inside []?

    ~ is also used in programming, no clue for math.

    Is the ~ some sort of hyphen?
     
  4. Youniquee

    Youniquee (◡‿◡✿) Contributor

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    Hmm..for me
    when people say "Hello~"
    It translates to me as it's meant to sound like 'Helloooooo'
    but I have a feeling that's not it's proper use.
     
  5. popsicledeath

    popsicledeath Banned

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    I've never seen or heard of either being used in English, outside of the math/programming definitions.

    I mean, you could always write a sentence saying something is ~8 and people might understand, but it's not a punctuation symbol, so much as a math one.

    And technically in manuscript formatting, when people use ~ to indicate scene breaks, they're using it incorrectly, but shrug.
     
  6. VM80

    VM80 Contributor Contributor

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    I've never heard this theory. I thought online it was used sometimes just to be 'cute', I always see people (girls) signing their names surrounded by ~~

    Now that I think of it, some people in class used to use it as an indicator of approximation. They'd say ~10 to mean 'approx 10' or 'give or take 10'.

    Anyone know if that is acually correct?
     
  7. colorthemap

    colorthemap New Member

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    Well lets be logical.

    The typewriter did not have such items:

    The modern keyboard is tailored for computers(i.e basically a massive math machine) BUT it is also made for a certain regions language (Take English) it would not make sense to create a specific key for a machine. In the begging of computers the keyboard did not even exist. So I'd gather it has some purpose or it would have no use in a computer(no one would know how to use it.

    BUT it may be possible as the "{}" is used in most if not all modern^ programming languages / scripting languages(other then html). This may be for the sake of ease of use, but it may have been modernly designed to tailor this purpose.

    However the "{}" is as previously stated used in math to describe "domain" and "range" thus making it not an un-heard of.

    The "~" on the other hand is never practically used. (to my knowledge) EVEN in programming it is an advanced thing to use.

    IN OTHER WORDS: I have no clue.


    *: From c++ on, they have had a use in containing the contents of:
    -methods
    -functions
    -if/else/else if statements
    -loops
    -Classes
    -[Ignore this if you don't program]
     
  8. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    i only use the ~ to separate the parts of a letterhead, if it fits the font i'm using...

    and i never use { }
     
  9. colorthemap

    colorthemap New Member

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    Maybe it has no use alas.

    Could it be (...[...{...}...]...): I doubt it.
     
  10. DukeRustfield

    DukeRustfield New Member

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    Tilde (~) is often used to mean about or approximately. You can see that in everything from engineering to cooking. ~3 tablespoons.

    It's also used by programs and programmers a lot when parsing text, simply because it almost never exists in English but is available readily on a keyboard. I.e., a .csv file means "comma separated values," but that is dangerous because commas are all over the place in English. So you'll see it used as a sperarator behind-the-scenes a lot. It's one character, a simple ascii value, and merely requires a shift on a keyboard.

    Curly brackets exist in computer programming quite frequently, as for regular English, I've used them on mostly joke occassions to have parentheticals inside parenthesis. Like the same with using quotes.

    -He was a bright blue Floggermagger (a type of Dwibbernsap [which is a type of Popperbash {which is a rock}]).
     
  11. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    i've been an avid cook all my life [well, since around 9, anyway] and have had and consulted many thousands of cookbooks and recipes by now, but have never seen this symbol used as you've shown, duke... could be a regional thing?
     
  12. colorthemap

    colorthemap New Member

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    Really you weren't born with a cook book?

    What ever I guess we will never know for sure.
     
  13. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    I don't use "~" in my writing, but I've seen it used to mean "approximately," and that's how I use it in my own hand-written notes.
     
  14. Islander

    Islander Contributor Contributor

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    According to Wikipedia:
     

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