Calculator spelling is an unintended characteristic of the seven-segment display traditionally used by calculators, in which, when read upside-down, the digits resemble letters of the Latin alphabet. Each digit may be mapped to one or more letters, creating a limited but functional subset of the alphabet, sometimes referred to as beghilos (or beghilosz).[1][2]
O
I or l
Z
E
h
S
g
L
B
G
Inverted calculator digits and their letter equivalents
Aside from novelty and amusement, calculator spelling has limited utility. The popularity of pagers in the 1990s gave rise to a form of leetspeak called pagerspeak.[3] Students, in particular, experimented with calculators to discover new words.
English versionedit
The "original" attributed example of calculator spelling, which dates from the 1970s,[4] is 5318008, which when turned over spells "BOOBIES". Another early example of calculator spelling offered the sequence 0.7734, which becomes "hello", or could also be written as "0.1134".[5] The 1979 album Five Three One - Double Seven O Four by The Hollies encodes the band's name in calculator spelling ("hOLLIES"). Other words possible with the traditional "BEghILOSZ" set include "loose", "shell", "BEIgE", "gOBBLE", "gOOgLE", and many others. Among the longest are "hILLBILLIES" and "SLEIghBELLS" at 11, "gLOSSOLOgIES" and "BIBLIOLOgIES" at 12 letters, and "hEEBEEgEEBEES" at 13 letters. Another common case, 7734206, spells "gO 2 hELL". 8008 is special in that it can spell "BOOB" upside-down or right-side up. 71077345 spells "SHELLOIL". There are also a couple of names that are able to be calculator spelled. For example, 7718=BILL,[6] 46137=LEIgh, 5107=LOIS, 31773=ELLIE, 31717173=ELI LILIE (in Polish: lily flowers of Elisabeth) and 302=ZOE.
Scientific calculators that feature hexadecimal readout using the letters A through F offer more flexibility. Using a scientific calculator with hex capability, the earlier "5318008" example can be improved with the A–F keys to spell "B00B1E5", without needing to rotate the display (a practice known as hexspeak or Base 16).
Students often use this capability and the improved "alpha" feature that use the letters "A" through "Z" to write messages, separating words by using the minus sign ("-") or other punctuation.
In some calculators that use dot matrix displays, a factorial product sign ("!") can be used to add emphasis. For example, "B00B1E5!".
^Pager Language | Teens Create Language of Pager-Speak - Los Angeles Times
^Tom Dalzell; Terry Victor (27 November 2014). The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Taylor & Francis. p. 2060. ISBN978-1-317-62511-7.
^"Words that can be written on a calculator". Everything2. Everything Development Co. 2000-03-13.
Heinrich Hemme: Die Hölle der Zahlen - 92 mathematische Rätsel mit ausführlichen Lösungen, page 19/73 (German)
External linksedit
Calculator Haikus – Some examples and a report of finding a total of 118 English words possible to display using the upside-down technique
A list of 250 calculator-spellable English words – A list of calculator spelling words generated by regular expression search
– An upside-down calculator
Historias de Calculadora (in Spanish) – A list of calculator-spellable Spanish words, and Logo code to convert them to numbers
– An 824 word list and an extended 1455 word list of English words possible to display on an upside down calculator, HTML code to aid their creation plus three 'micro stories' using only the available words.
251 words you can spell with a calculator. – Present&Correct 251 words you can spell with a calculator. (10/27/13)
December 15, 2023
calculator, spelling, unintended, characteristic, seven, segment, display, traditionally, used, calculators, which, when, read, upside, down, digits, resemble, letters, latin, alphabet, each, digit, mapped, more, letters, creating, limited, functional, subset,. Calculator spelling is an unintended characteristic of the seven segment display traditionally used by calculators in which when read upside down the digits resemble letters of the Latin alphabet Each digit may be mapped to one or more letters creating a limited but functional subset of the alphabet sometimes referred to as beghilos or beghilosz 1 2 O I or l Z E hS g L B GInverted calculator digitsand their letter equivalents Contents 1 Applications 1 1 English version 1 2 Scientific and programmer calculators 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksApplications editAside from novelty and amusement calculator spelling has limited utility The popularity of pagers in the 1990s gave rise to a form of leetspeak called pagerspeak 3 Students in particular experimented with calculators to discover new words English version edit nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp The original attributed example of calculator spelling which dates from the 1970s 4 is 5318008 which when turned over spells BOOBIES Another early example of calculator spelling offered the sequence 0 7734 which becomes hello or could also be written as 0 1134 5 The 1979 album Five Three One Double Seven O Four by The Hollies encodes the band s name in calculator spelling hOLLIES Other words possible with the traditional BEghILOSZ set include loose shell BEIgE gOBBLE gOOgLE and many others Among the longest are hILLBILLIES and SLEIghBELLS at 11 gLOSSOLOgIES and BIBLIOLOgIES at 12 letters and hEEBEEgEEBEES at 13 letters Another common case 7734206 spells gO 2 hELL 8008 is special in that it can spell BOOB upside down or right side up 71077345 spells SHELLOIL There are also a couple of names that are able to be calculator spelled For example 7718 BILL 6 46137 LEIgh 5107 LOIS 31773 ELLIE 31717173 ELI LILIE in Polish lily flowers of Elisabeth and 302 ZOE Scientific and programmer calculators edit nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Ace of Base in hexspeakScientific calculators that feature hexadecimal readout using the letters A through F offer more flexibility Using a scientific calculator with hex capability the earlier 5318008 example can be improved with the A F keys to spell B00B1E5 without needing to rotate the display a practice known as hexspeak or Base 16 nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Students often use this capability and the improved alpha feature that use the letters A through Z to write messages separating words by using the minus sign or other punctuation In some calculators that use dot matrix displays a factorial product sign can be used to add emphasis For example B00B1E5 nbsp Digital manometer error codeSee also edit7 segment display Ambigram ASCII art Emoticon Hexspeak Leetspeek Phoneword Translit Transformation of textReferences edit Quinion Michael 2009 08 08 World Wide Words Beghilos Retrieved 2017 07 06 QYV 1994 09 11 Was Re Mech postings Design 2750 Google Groups Newsgroup rec games mecha Usenet JACQUES 4 2E735F23 PHYSICS watstar uwaterloo ca Retrieved 2017 07 06 Pager Language Teens Create Language of Pager Speak Los Angeles Times Tom Dalzell Terry Victor 27 November 2014 The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English Taylor amp Francis p 2060 ISBN 978 1 317 62511 7 Words that can be written on a calculator Everything2 Everything Development Co 2000 03 13 Smuggling Ring 4 April 2013 Further reading editHeinrich Hemme Die Holle der Zahlen 92 mathematische Ratsel mit ausfuhrlichen Losungen page 19 73 German External links editCalculator Haikus Some examples and a report of finding a total of 118 English words possible to display using the upside down technique A list of 250 calculator spellable English words A list of calculator spelling words generated by regular expression search Topsy Turvy Calculator An upside down calculator Historias de Calculadora in Spanish A list of calculator spellable Spanish words and Logo code to convert them to numbers The Ultimate List An 824 word list and an extended 1455 word list of English words possible to display on an upside down calculator HTML code to aid their creation plus three micro stories using only the available words 251 words you can spell with a calculator Present amp Correct 251 words you can spell with a calculator 10 27 13 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Calculator spelling amp oldid 1187585208, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
