solidus and virgules
Hi guys, new here at typophile but used to come every now and then to read posts. I decided to finally get an account. My first question on the forum is:
what is the difference between a solidus and a virgule?
I believe a solidus is a fraction mark and a virgule is the plain old slash, is this correct? Thanks.
Brian
1.Nov.2006 7.41am
According to Bringhurst, yes. Solidus is a more angled slash used for fractions (the term derived from a roman coin).
1.Nov.2006 7.54am
True solidus from Roman.
England has it because the Romans came here and ’/’ is a shilling. // two slashes with a bar through it is a libra, a measure of weight or curreny (looks similar to # that the americans call ’pound sign’). Hence the £ is the current form of the ’pound sterling’.
And in typography the stacked fractions were called ’nut’ fractions since they were often on the ’nut’ or ’en space’ and the lining ones often called ’shilling fractions’.