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Angzarr

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Unicode character with unknown origin
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⍼
Angzarr
In UnicodeU+237C ⍼ RIGHT ANGLE WITH DOWNWARDS ZIGZAG ARROW

Angzarr (⍼) is the name of a ghost character-like Unicode symbol of unknown origin and unknown meaning. It was added to Unicode 3.2, but the symbol has been present in works prior to its release. The name is from an abbreviation of its ISO 9573-13 name, "Angle with Down Zig-zag Arrow", also reflected in its Unicode name, "Right Angle with Downwards Zigzag Arrow". Its HTML entity reference, originally defined in ISO 9573-13, is ⍼.

History

The earliest known use of the symbol ⍼ is found in a 1963 Monotype typeset catalog of arrow characters; it does not appear in an earlier 1954 edition of the same catalog. Monotype listed the symbol as matrix serial number S9576. A later 1972 Monotype catalog, for mathematical characters, listed it under another serial number, S16139; the reason for the redundant serial number is unclear. It is unknown why Monotype added the character, or what purpose it was intended to serve, although much of Monotype's character repertoire for movable type originated from customer requests, including corporate logos.

In 1988, the International Organization for Standardization added the symbol to its Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) definition, apparently pulling it from the Monotype character set. The STIX Fonts project adopted the Angzarr symbol from the ISO's SGML characters.

In March 2000, the Angzarr symbol reached wide distribution when the Unicode Project proposed adding it to the Unicode Standard. The symbol appeared in the ISO publication Proposal for Encoding Additional Mathematical Symbols, although the symbol has no specific purpose.

The lack of meaning associated with the Angzarr symbol gained notoriety in 2022 when a blog post was published on its unknown origins. The blog was updated in 2023, confirming the appearance of Angzarr in a 1972 Monotype typeset catalogue with a scan of the page, and in 2024, confirming its appearance in earlier Monotype catalogues.

See also

References

  1. ^ ISO. "Added Math Symbols: Arrow Relations". Techniques for using SGML, Part 13: Public entity sets for mathematics and science. ISO 9573-13:1991.
  2. ^ "Special Signs: Arrows and Shafts". Index to Classified Lists of Monotype Special Matrices (1963 ed.). Monotype. January 1963.
  3. ^ Chan, Jonathan (2024-08-07). "UPDATE: U+237C ⍼ is (also) S9576 ⍼".
  4. "Special Signs: Arrows and Shafts". Index to Classified Lists of Monotype Special Matrices (1954 ed.). Monotype. December 1954.
  5. "Special Signs: Arrows and Shafts". Index to Classified Lists of Monotype Special Matrices (1966 ed.). Monotype. October 1966.
  6. List of Mathematical Characters. Vol. L231 and L231B. Monotype. July 1972. Morison Collection ID 1972.12.177.
  7. ^ Chan, Jonathan (2023-06-06). "UPDATE: U+237C ⍼ ⍼". Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  8. List, Jenny (24 April 2022). "Can You Identify This Mystery Unicode Glyph?". Hackaday. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  9. "ISO/IEC TR 9573-13:1991". ISO.org. ISO/IEC. 1991. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  10. "Stix Project".
  11. "Proposal for Encoding Additional Mathematical Symbols in the BMP" (PDF). ISO. 14 March 2000.
  12. Half as Interesting (2022-05-06). ⍼ - Why Nobody Knows What This One Unicode Character Means. Retrieved 2024-07-19 – via YouTube.
  13. "U+237C ⍼ Right Angle with Downwards Zigzag Arrow". Y Combinator. 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  14. Chan, Jonathan (2022-04-09). "U+237C ⍼ RIGHT ANGLE WITH DOWNWARDS ZIGZAG ARROW". Retrieved 2023-12-27.
  15. "Update: U+237C ⍼ &Angzarr;". Y Combinator. 2023-06-17. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
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