the asterisk ( *), from late latin asteriscus, from ancient greek ἀστερίσκος, asteriskos, 'little star', is a typographical symbol.it is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as star (as, for example, in the a* search algorithm or c*-algebra).in english, an asterisk is usually five- or six-pointed in sans-serif typefaces, six-pointed in serif typefaces, and six- or eight-pointed when handwritten.its most common use is to call out a footnote.it is also often used to censor offensive words.in computer science, the asterisk is commonly used as a wildcard character, or to denote pointers, repetition, or multiplication.there is also a two-thousand-year-old character used by aristarchus of samothrace called the asteriskos, ※, which he used when proofreading homeric poetry to mark lines that were duplicated.origen is known to have also used the asteriskos to mark missing hebrew lines from his hexapla.the asterisk evolved in shape over time, but its meaning as a symbol used to correct defects remained.in the middle ages, the asterisk was used to emphasize a particular part of text, often linking those parts of the text to a marginal comment.however, an asterisk was not always used.one hypothesis to the origin of the asterisk is that it stems from the 5000-year-old sumerian character dingir, 𒀭, though this hypothesis seems to only be based on visual appearance.for example, the word 'badword' might become 'ba***rd', 'b*****d', 'b******' or even '*******'.vowels tend to be censored with an asterisk more than consonants, but the intelligibility of censored profanities with multiple syllables such as 'b*dw*rd' and  'b*****d' or 'ba****d', or uncommon ones is higher if put in context with surrounding text.when a document containing classified information is published, the document may be 'sanitized' (redacted) by replacing the classified information with asterisks.for example, the intelligence and security committee russia report.this is because results that have been considered dubious or set aside are recorded in the record books with an asterisk rendering to a footnote explaining the reason or reasons for concern.ruth had amassed 60 home runs in a season with only 154 games,  but maris was playing the first season in the american league's newly expanded 162-game season.baseball commissioner ford frick, a friend of ruth's during the legendary slugger's lifetime, held a press conference to announce his 'ruling' that should maris take longer than 154 games both records would be acknowledged by major league baseball, but that some 'distinctive mark' [his term] be placed next to maris', which should be listed alongside ruth's achievement in the 'record books'.the asterisk as such a mark was suggested at that time by new york daily news sportswriter dick young, not frick.the reality, however, was that mlb actually had no direct control over any record books until many years later, and it all was merely a suggestion on frick's part.within a few years the controversy died down and all prominent baseball record keepers listed maris as the single-season record holder.nevertheless, the stigma of holding a tainted record remained with maris for many years, and the concept of a real or figurative asterisk denoting less-than-accepted 'official' records has become widely used in sports and other competitive endeavors.a 2001 tv movie about maris's record-breaking season was called 61* (pronounced sixty-one asterisk) in reference to the controversy.uproar over the integrity of baseball records and whether or not qualifications should be added to them arose again in the late 1990s, when a steroid-fueled power explosion led to the shattering of maris' record.
asterix character | creator | rené goscinny <tsp> rené goscinny | nationality | french people
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