[TomMacs]

wwooowww, I just found out if you select a folder and then get it in the name change mode, then hold down option key and then press a letter key. You get cool symbols
example: option r gives you the registered sign
but wait theres more it's cooool
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[d00d]

I hate to burst your bubble, but this is not so much a cool trick as the official way to produce specific symbols. To discover more, open up Key Caps and experiment by holding down specific keys. Certain symbols, including ones with accents above them or umlauts (the two dots), require two key presses. To access these symbols directly without remembering specific key sequences, activate the character palette, in International under Input Menu in System Preferences.

[TomMacs]

What do they mean and what are they used for???
thanks

[Ryan_F]

They're for putting special symbols on-screen. Like if I needed a pound sign, I would go "option-3" . My favorite would be:
option-shift-k
Try it!

[icerabbit]

Some of the signs are related to official registrations ( c ) ( r ) ( tm ), characters with accents from different languages, characters for other languages (greek, ...) some are just pretty icons, ... it can be anything that's assigned to a font. Some are entire libraries of symbols (geographical, electrical, architectural, seasonal, ...) while some others just look odd because we don't know their meaning.
icerabbit

[jbouklas]

That's very useful. Maybe you should submit this little hint to www.macosxhints.com . Thanks.
-Jim

[TomMacs]

Is there a web site were I could go to, to see these symbols, their meanings and how to type them???

[dcipjr]

The option key trick has been around for years. Pretty cool.

[Philbert]

Just be thankful you're not using Windows. To get symbols on a PC, you need to type something really arcane, like ALT + 0241 to get . Some PC apps like Word make it easier but still ....

[SueG]

I remember needing the special characters for an academic piece with foreign quotes, long ago. To keep them in front of me I typed (in SimpleText - no doubt TextEdit would work) the keyboard normally (with spaces between the letters) on one line and the option and shift option versions on separate lines (spaced to line up) and printed them out. Most are pretty intuitive, but there are too many varieties of accents for the vowels to keep them all on that letter.
As for what they mean? Most are just accents that foreign languages use, others are monetary units (you could try a currency conversion page to find those), but I doubt you'll find a comprehensive explanation anywhere.

[mystery_stain]

In reply to:

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see these symbols, their meanings and how to type them???

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You can just go to the International system pref, click Input Menu, and turn on the Character palette, making a new icon show up on the menu bar. Click that icon, open that palette and you'll see every character in every font on your system.
If you think all this stuff is cool you really need to get yourself a copy of David Pogue's Mac OS X: The Missing Manual. The millions of tips in there will make you so cool people will hand you meat to keep it from spoiling.

[mark_G4]

This also reminds me about a soft return (shift return) that I discovered back with the option key. It is amazing how many computer users don't know about a soft return.