Re: [i18n-prog] Is the ? a universal symbol for help info?

Help and the question mark are *not* universal, but it is as close as one
can get, really.

In most languages, it is indeed a symbol indicating a question, though there
are some cases where it is not so great (in Greek they would use a
semicolon, in some Arabic locales the question mark would be reversed, and
in Armenian it is not used for questions, either). But its the most widely
recognized symbol, and the few contenders (like a letter "i") are very
distant seconds.

michka

a new book on internationalization in VB at
http://www.i18nWithVB.com/

----- Original Message -----
From: "A. Vine" <avine@eng.sun.com>
To: "I18n Prog List" <i18n-prog@egroups.com>; "WWW Int'l list"
<www-international@w3.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 7:15 PM
Subject: [i18n-prog] Is the ? a universal symbol for help info?


 > All,
 >
 > A human-interface engineer asks:
 >
 >   I was wondering if you could tell me if the "?" used for help is a
 >   globally known symbol?
 >
 > The usage is a clickable graphic ? which brings up a help window.
 >
 > Does anyone have experience with this?
 >
 > Thanks for any info,
 > Andrea
 > --
 > Andrea Vine, avine@eng.sun.com, iPlanet i18n architect
 > "A bibliophile is a lover of books; a bibliomane, a wildly enthusiastic
 > collector. An abandoned fanatic, once he succumbs to bibliolatry,
 > graduates into a bibliomaniac. While a bibliomaniac's spouse might easily
 > become a bibliophobe, his arch nemesis would be a biblioclast: a
 > destroyer
 > of books." -- Bill Strubbe, A Bibliophile in Britain
 >
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Received on Wednesday, 25 October 2000 22:29:00 UTC