Asterisks & Asterix

[matchmaker]

I was filling in a form this morning from a major utility provider (Scottish Water) and in one section saw this:

"All fields marked with an asterix (*) are mandatory".

Now, I may be a bit of a pedant, but I thought Asterix was this guy:



A poll of my colleagues in the office (all educated and professional) revealed that all three of them thought * was an asterix.

I despair...

Edited by matchmaker on Friday 3rd November 13:22

[lucido grigio]

That's a bit Gauling.

[Abbott]

He has a great amusement park just north of CDG. Much better than Walt's place.

[Cold]

matchmaker said:

A poll of my colleagues in the office (all educated and professional) reveled that all three of them thought * was an asterix.

I despair...

They were joyously and loudly celebrating this?

I despair...

[Pothole]

See also affect/effect, pacific, haitch, etc.

Moronitude is all around us.

[sc0tt]

In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?

[Electronicpants]

I thought the difference was obelix.

[matchmaker]

Cold said:

matchmaker said:

A poll of my colleagues in the office (all educated and professional) reveled that all three of them thought * was an asterix.

I despair...

They were joyously and loudly celebrating this?

I despair...

Damn! Finger poking mistake!

[ZOLLAR]

sc0tt said:

In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?

Well I imagine it could be, if sufficient numbers of people believe it to be correct it may well evolve the language but also create confusion over the word having two meanings (not unknown)

See Old English and Modern English, the language is constantly evolving.
The hard part is identifying whether it's evolving correctly.

So yes, I suppose it does matter!

Fantastic bit of waffling that was.

[Frank7]

matchmaker said:

I was filling in a form this morning from a major utility provider (Scottish Water) and in one section saw this:

"All fields marked with an asterix (*) are mandatory".

Now, I may be a bit of a pedant, but I thought Asterix was this guy:



A poll of my colleagues in the office (all educated and professional) revealed that all three of them thought * was an asterix.

I despair...

Edited by matchmaker on Friday 3rd November 13:22

I would suggest that you rephrase your opinions on your colleagues to, “educated, (but not very well)”, and professional dimwits.

[austinsmirk]

You're being quite Dogmatix about this.

[Angrybiker]

Don't be such a boar

[Benni]

Isn´t the single star an "Asterik" so the plural should be "Asteriks" ?

[Einion Yrth]

Benni said:

Isn´t the single star an "Asterik" so the plural should be "Asteriks" ?

No.

[Angrybiker]

Benni said:

Isn´t the single star an "Asterik" so the plural should be "Asteriks" ?

No, you add an s to make something plural. Asterisks.

Asteriks is for those in society who say 'arks' instead of 'ask'.

[Shakermaker]

Benni said:

Isn´t the single star an "Asterik" so the plural should be "Asteriks" ?

No, it is an Asterisk, the end sounds like Risk.

The plural is Asterisks, the end sounds like Risks.

The little French chap is Asterix, the end of his name rhymes with Twix.

[glenrobbo]

Cold said:

matchmaker said:

A poll of my colleagues in the office (all educated and professional) reveled that all three of them thought * was an asterix.

I despair...

They were joyously and loudly celebrating this?

I despair...

No. That's revelled.

[noell35]

lucido grigio said:

That's a bit Gauling.

Thank you. Best laugh I've had in ages

[Strudul]

Pothole said:

See also affect/effect, pacific, haitch, etc.

Moronitude is all around us.

I mutter "aitch" whenever someone says that...

Don't forget them/those as well...

[Toyoda]

It's as bad as seeing the possessive its written as it's in places where you'd expect some proofreading.