Calculator spelling
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Calculator spelling (also known as beghilos, the alphabet of available letters) is a technique of spelling words by reading characters upside-down from calculators equipped with certain kinds of seven-segment displays. It is a form of transformation of text.
Description
An unintended characteristic of the seven-segment display is that many numbers, when read upside-down, resemble letters of the Latin alphabet. Each digit can be mapped to a unique letter, creating a limited but functional subset of the alphabet, sometimes called the beghilos[citation needed] alphabet.
Digit: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F |
Letter: | O | I | Z | E | h | S | g | L | B | b | Y | q | J | P | 3 | j |
The graphic below illustrates with the sequence "250714638" appearing inverted as "BEghILOSZ":
Certain calculators omit the topmost stem on the digit "6" and the bottom-most stem on the "9". In such cases, "6" renders a lowercase "q" when turned upside-down, and "9" appears as a lowercase "b".
Other variants of calculator spelling alphabets consider "0" to be a capital "D" instead of "O", "6" (not used in the standard Beghilos) as a lowercase "g" (as opposed to uppercase represented by 9) and "9" as either a reversed lowercase "a" or an at sign (@), both of which represent the letter A.
Extending the available alphabet to hexadecimal notation (generally available on lower-end scientific calculators, though not on basic models), "b" and "d" correspond to "z" and "p" respectively. "F" transforms to a "j" A, C, and E do not transform readily to recognizable letters. C transforms to a J, which is recognizable and distinct enough to the point where it can be used as J. E transforms to 3, which has little use, though it can be used on an ad hoc basis as a sideways M or W. Upside-down A is Y.
Using leet, additional letters can be represented by combinations of letters (11/II or 2 ["Z" being very rare in English] representing "two" or "to", 111/III representing "three", 15/SI, 935/SEa or 335/SEE for "C", etc.). This is generally rare and, especially in the last case (using a spelling-out of a letter) severely limits readability.
Only certain calculators are capable of being used for beghilos calculator spelling. LCD, VFD, LED, and Panaplex displays are best for spelling words. The ability of dot-matrix displays, fourteen-segment and sixteen-segment displays to render most characters defeats the purpose of spelling with a limited alphabet.
If the calculator is instead rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise from upright to create a vertical display, a different, but less useful, set of letters can be reproduced:
Digit: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
Letter: | O | - | N | M | J | u | b | C | ∞ | ɑ | ¢ | O | U | P | W | u |
If the calculator is instead rotated 90 degrees clockwise from upright to create a vertical display, STILL a different, but less useful, set of letters can be reproduced:
Digit: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F |
Letter: | O | - | N | W | r | n | ɑ | J | ∞ | b | D | q | n | a | M | n |
Digit: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F |
Letter: | O | I | S | E | y | Z | a | r | B | e | A | d | J | b | 3 | z |
Applications
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.[1] Students, in particular, experimented with calculators to discover new words.
English
The 'original' attributed example of calculator spelling, which dates from the 1970s,[2] is 5318008, which when turned over spells "BOOBIES". Another early example of calculator spelling offered the sequence 0.7734, which becomes "hELLO".[3] Other words possible with the traditional "BEghILOSZ" set include "LOOSE", "ShELL", "BEIgE", "gOBBLE", and very many others. Two of the longest, at 11 letters, are "hILLBILLIES" and "SLEIghBELLS" (these require 12-digit displays, such as those used in adding machines). Hip hop slang applications include the sequence 3722145 which spells "ShIZZLE". On certain 10 digit calculators the number 5304577351 spells "I SELL ShOES."
Scientific and programmer calculators
Scientific calculators that feature hexadecimal readout using the letters A through F offer more flexibility. Using a scientific calculator with hex capability, the earlier "b00b1E5" example can be improved with the A–F keys to spell "B00B1E5", without needing to rotate the display (a practice known as hexspeak).
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 the "B00B1E5" example above, for instance, a factorial product sign ("!") can be added to create "B00B1E5!" Most of these calculators do not use seven-segment displays, instead using dot matrix displays for greater versatility.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/66/Beghilos_error.svg/100px-Beghilos_error.svg.png)
Programmable devices
When accessed through programming, calculator spelling can provide a form of textual feedback in devices with limited output ability. A programmer creates a wider set of letters, which does not require a reader to turn the device upside-down.[3]
Other languages
Calculator spelling is also used in other languages.
- An example in Dutch is 707 + 707 = 1414. In calculator spelling this is LOL + LOL = hIhI. The word LOL means fun (in Dutch, it is also a Leet/SMS acronym for laughter) and hihi is the Dutch spelling for "heehee" (laughter).
- In Italian, 0.7738135 (upside down 'SEI BELLO') means 'you are handsome', and 0.5535 ('SESSO') means 'sex'.
- In Portuguese, 50135 ('SEIOS'), means 'breasts', and is directly analogous to the English "58008/BOOBS".
- In Turkish, "1837837/LEBLEBI" meaning 'roasted chickpeas' and "3732732/ZELZELE", meaning 'earthquake' are common examples.
- In German, common words in calculator spelling are 7353/ESEL, which translates to 'donkey', and the forbidden 7134.9315/SIEG hEIL.
- In Spanish, entering 15 (upside down) or 51 (right side up) produces "SI," which translates in English to either "yes" or "if" depending on whether or not there is an accented i. Another example is formed by writing 50538 (upside-down "BESOS"), which means "kisses". And 0.7715708 which produces "bolsillo" and translates in English to pocket.
- A common example in Polish and several other Slavic languages is 71830 (upside-down "DEBIL"), meaning "retard".
- In French adding one digit to the Polish example displays DEBILE (371830). "Débile" means "dumb", or "stupid". 713705 displays "soleil" ("sun", in English)
- In Hebrew, while calculator is right side up, 71070 spells סרסור (sarsur, "pimp"), 7109179 for פרופסור ("professor"), 7979 for פרפר (parpar, "butterfly").
Popular culture
- In an episode of the TV series Family Guy Glen Quagmire teaches Chris Griffin how to spell "8008" on a calculator, Chris Griffin then has an idea to put 3 calculators together to make them spell "BOOB" "Boobs "BOOB"or to loosely resemble a pair of breasts.
- The Dutch rock band 35007's name comes from the calculator-spelling of the word "Loose".
- The Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton has a song titled "7734" on their album Metalizer.
- In The Fairly OddParents TV movie School's Out! The Musical Flappy Bob types 07734 on the calculator during the song "Where is the Fun?", which when turned upside down spells Hello.
- In an episode of the TV series SpongeBob SquarePants ("Goo Goo Gas"), the character Plankton tests a formula that turns anything it touches into a baby stored in Karen, his computerized "wife." When it works in turning her into a calculator, Plankton beseeches the device to "speak to me!" It responds in a calculator-spelling response of 0.7734 (hELLO), causing him to exclaim "It worked!"
- A commercial for Progressive automobile insurance features the company spokeswoman, Flo, typing 0.7734 to spell "Hello" as a form of "calculator humor."
- In the Strong Bad Email "technology" on the popular Homestar Runner website, Strong Bad types in 530453080 to his calculator. When turned upside down this reads "Oboe shoes"
- The song Twilight Omens by Franz Ferdinand includes the lines, "I typed your number into my calculator / Where it spelled a dirty word / When you turn it upside down."
- In the manga Rave Master, the character Elie thinks her name is "Elie" because she mistakenly read the tattoo on her arm (3173) upside-down.
- The Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot has a song titled 80085 (BOOBS) on the album Zero Day.
- According to the 2010 episode of The Simpsons entitled Moe Letter Blues, the animated sitcom takes place in ZIP Code 80085 because in calculator spelling, the ZIP code is BOOBS. The ZIP code could also be 60065 as "boobs".
- In 1979 the Hollies released an album entitled 5317704 which is HOLLIES in upside down calculator.
- In the computer game Sam & Max[disambiguation needed], one immature character speculates that a door code's password might be 5318008- (BOOBIES). After hours of problem-solving, you find out that the password is exactly that.
- In Extras (TV series), Andy's agent shows him, much to his evident disinterest, that 58008 forms 'boobs'. His agent later uses this 'trick' to get in with some of Andy's fans.
- The 1991 episode of I Love the '90s: Part Deux includes a segment on beepers, which included various people discussing the use of calculator spelling to send messages on what at the time was only a numeric display.
- In an episode of the TV series American Dad, Stan, trying prevent Roger from using his Pay-Per-View, lies to Roger and tells him that the pass code is 5318008, which in calculator spelling is "BOOBIES"
- In an episode of The Big Bang Theory, Raj states that 5318008 is the best number because when the calculator is turned upside down it spells "BOOBIES".
- In the "Lisa Goes Gaga" episode of The Simpsons, when Lady Gaga flies over a crowd with sparks shooting from her bra, Professor Frink holds up a calculator with "1234567890" on the display.
See also
- Phoneword
- ASCII art
- Emoticon
- Hexspeak
- Leet speek
- Seven-segment display character representations
- Translit
- Transformation of text
References
- ^ Pager Language | Teens Create Language of Pager-Speak - Los Angeles Times
- ^ The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (2006), Eric Partridge, Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor, pp. 2160
- ^ a b "Words that can be written on a calculator". Everything2. Everything Development Co. 2000-03-13.
- Rechnerspielereien, 1973, Publisher Gundig Template:De icon; translates directly as "Calculator Games". (No ISBN or author available.)
External links
- 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
- Taschencode Advanced Template:De icon – Software to emulate an upside-down calculator (MS Windows only)
- Topsy-Turvy Calculator – An upside-down calculator
- Historias de Calculadora Template:Es icon – 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.