Other symbols, such as the hashtag or at-sign, had a variety of uses until the internet ushered in a new way of communicating and fixed them with the meanings we know today.

The following is the second of three excerpts from Keith Houston’s new book, Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks. As the symbol’s ...

Keith Houston, whose Shady Characters blog was the forerunner of his “Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks” (Norton), is a tireless researcher ...

Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks Keith Houston. Norton, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-393-06442-1 ...

These humble symbols are a dagger in my eye when a straight, or typewriter-style, pair appears in the midst of what is often otherwise typographic beauty. It’s a small, infuriating difference ...