For the conventional explanation of the name "pilcrow," as well as an
illustration of the derivation of the shape, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcrow

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"anon k" wrote in message
m...
Tom Brown wrote:

Thanks! This is really funny because the first thing I usually do when
I
install Word on any computer, is go up and get rid of that funny-looking
Show/Hide Formatting symbol.

It's a paragraph mark. They've been in use for centuries, well before
Word, or even printing presses, came along. If anyone can explain how
it came to get its shape, I'd be interested.

Why do I do this? Because I didn't know what
it was so I didn't think I needed it. But, in getting rid of it, I must
have pushed it first!

I guess we are always learning something, huh?

Thanks again,

Tom