Rixsky business

IN THE last edition of Offbeat, I pondered why Singaporeans insist on calling the hash key - that is the symbol # - the hex key. The column sparked some delightful conversations; acquaintances I hadn't heard from in ages told me they'd never realised that "hex" was incorrect, and colleagues stopped me in office corridors to say that "hash" had been something of a revelation.

So the hex issue was settled. Ever the pestilent pedant, though, I could not resist asking a follow-up question: "How do you spell and pronounce *?"

Nine times out of 10, I got "asterix", instead of the correct "asterisk".