The reverse virgule

Diacriticals are interesting. I have written about the forward slash - or solidus - before (here), but I have not talked about the reverse virgule, or backslash.

The reverse virgule should not apparently be called a reverse solidus, because the solidus is solely for dividing currency or numerical elements. When not referring to currency, the solidus has an alternate name - for when used to divide lines poetry for example - the virgule.

Who knew that the solidus, peculiar and fringe enough, had yet another name for another function? Well, not me, obviously. Anyway, I digress. 

The virgule arose in medieval manuscripts, so is quite deep rooted in English. It is a "thin sloping or upright [forward-sloping] line", to "mark for the cæsura" (Simpson & Weiner, 1989b, p. 670). A caesura is the end of a line of poetry, or a "metrical pause" (Simpson & Weiner, 1989a, p. 764; so cute). However, with the formalisation of rules which arrived along with the printing press, the diacritical more commonly used to indicate the caesura tends to be the bar: "|". 

And just to add another complication, the bar is also "used in the syntax of some computing languages and scripts, and is sometimes referred to as a pipe" (Waddingham, 2014, p. 92).

But the virgule is still has common uses, often in messaging apps where we write in shorthand; "w/e" for weekend, for example. The use in providing equal alternatives, such as "she/him", even though we are now being encouraged to use the Oxford gender neutral, "they" (OED, 2024).

So now we have dealt with the virgule, we FINALLY get to explore the reverse virgule, or backslash. It mostly used in computer coding, to show a file path or folder hierarchy within a computer system; or to indicate escape - or special characters (Love English, 2024). 

Fascinating.

Sam

References:

Love English. (2023, August 10). Forward Slash vs. Backslash: Differences and When to Use Each. https://loveenglish.org/forward-slash-vs-backslash/

OED. (2024). A brief history of singular ‘they’. Oxford English Dictionary. https://www.oed.com/discover/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/?tl=true

Root, R. L. (1991). The Virgule Variations: Learning/Language/Literature. English Journal, 80(6), 18-27. https://doi.org/10.58680/ej19918250

Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (Eds.) (1989). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., Vol II BBC-Chalypsography). Clarendon Press.

Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. C. (Eds.) (1989b). Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., Vol XIX Unemancipated-Wau-wau). Clarendon Press.

Waddingham, A. (Ed.) (2014). New Hart's Rules: The Oxford style guide (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.