One character carrying three unrelated jobs, none of which is obvious from the shape.
In front of a figure it is currency. At the end of a regular expression it anchors the pattern to the end of a line. In a shell it introduces a variable. Nothing about the S-with-a-stroke distinguishes them, and shell scripts routinely contain all three uses within a few lines of each other.
The same character. In a regular expression it anchors a pattern to the end of a line and has nothing to do with money.
| Dollar sign | Regular expression dollar anchor | |
|---|---|---|
| Position | Before an amount | At the end of a pattern |
| What it means | Currency | End of line |
| Matches any text | No | No — it matches a position, not a character |
| Third job | — | Introduces a variable in a shell |
| Relationship (from Symbolwise's records) | Commonly confused with Regular expression dollar anchor — The same character. In a regular expression it anchors a pattern to the end of a line and has nothing to do with money. | Commonly confused with Dollar sign — The same character. In a shell it also introduces a variable, and in a regular expression it anchors — neither has anything to do with money. |
Unicode Code Chart: Basic Latin (U+0000–U+007F)
The Unicode Consortium · retrieved 2026-07-30
Authoritative for the character's code point, name and block only. Unicode assigns identity; it does not define what a symbol means in use.
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-30
Tertiary reference. Used for widely-agreed identity and origin summary, not for contested detail or exact dates.
POSIX.1-2024, Regular Expressions
The Open Group / IEEE · retrieved 2026-08-01
Cited for the metacharacters of basic and extended regular expressions. Later dialects (PCRE, ECMAScript) extend this and diverge from it; where a record describes a construct POSIX does not define, it says so and is typed as documented practice.
Both are drawn as one continuous decorative stroke with a closed loop and a tail that crosses back over itself, which is why a description of the shape alone reaches both. The clef is far taller, spans a stave, and its spiral encircles one specific line — that encircled line is the note G, and it is the only reason the shape is drawn where it is.
As punctuation the asterisk points at a footnote or marks a required field. In a filename pattern typed at a shell it matches any run of characters, including none — and the shell expands it against real filenames before the command runs, so the command never sees the pattern at all. That expansion is the part people are surprised by.
Check where the dot sits. A dot immediately to the right of the notehead adds half the note's value again — a dotted half note lasts three beats. A dot directly above or below the head means staccato: play it short and detached. One dot, two opposite instructions, and only position distinguishes them.
Look at whether the adult is standing or seated. Baby changing shows an adult leaning over an infant on a table — a facility for changing a nappy. A nursing room shows a seated figure holding an infant — a private space for feeding. They are separate rooms, and signage that conflates them sends people to the wrong one.