Googling a non-alphanumeric whatsit

March 4, 2005 9:03 AM

Give me a fish: What does this symbol mean? )'( Teach me to fish: Is there any way to Google a non-alphanumeric string like that? How about other search engines?

The symbol showed up on a stranger's LiveJournal interest list. Some of the people who list it also list "burning man." Some of the people who list it also list Chinese or Japanese characters, or names of anime shows. Other than that, I can't find any patterns. Really, though, I'm just annoyed that I couldn't Google it and find out for myself where it comes from.

posted by nebulawindphone to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

It's the symbol for Burning Man. Well, a typographic approximation of the real thing (see top of page). It is most definitely not a Chinese/Japanese character.
posted by adamrice at 9:12 AM on March 4, 2005

I don't know what that symbol means, but I can tell you that there is no way to Google for punctuation. I don't know of any search engine that will let you do that.
posted by cerebus19 at 9:12 AM on March 4, 2005

Symbols.com has a search function, but it can't help find moderns signs/logos like that one.
posted by stefanie at 9:34 AM on March 4, 2005

Looks like the Burning Man logo, for sure.
posted by skylar at 9:35 AM on March 4, 2005

I asked a similiar question. The short answer: you can't Google on most non-alphanumerics.
posted by turbodog at 9:57 AM on March 4, 2005

Here is an example in context. Look at the section dividers.
posted by DaShiv at 10:31 AM on March 4, 2005

Maybe it's my filthy mind, but the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that symbol was, "hmmm... looks like somebody's arse."
posted by madman at 12:03 PM on March 4, 2005

FWIW I've also seen \<>/ used alot for Burning Man.
posted by greasepig at 3:04 PM on March 4, 2005

Response by poster: (Glad that wasn't just me, madman. But we've already got (_!_) for that...)
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:15 PM on March 4, 2005

It is not a search engine, but here is the The Unofficial Smiley Dictionary.
posted by mlis at 8:53 PM on March 4, 2005