   the slash (/) is a sign used as a punctuation mark and for various other purposes. it is often called a forward slash, a retronym used to distinguish it from the backslash (\). it has many other names. ==history== the slash goes back to the days of ancient rome. in the early modern period, in the fraktur script, which was widespread through europe in the middle ages, one slash (/) represented a comma, while two slashes (//) represented a dash. the two slashes eventually evolved into a sign similar to the equals sign (=), then being further simplified to a single dash (â). ==usage== ===in english text=== the slash is most commonly used as the word substitute for "or" which indicates a choice (often mutually-exclusive) is present. (examples: male/female, y/n, he/she. see also the gender-neutrality in spanish and portuguese section below.) the slash is also used to avoid taking a position in a naming controversy, allowing the juxtaposition of both names without stating a preference. an example is the designation "assyrian/chaldean/syriac" in the official u.s. census, reflecting the syriac naming dispute. the swedish census has come to a similar solution, using "assyrier/syrianer" to refer to the same ethnic group. another use of the slash is to replace the hyphen or en dash to make a clear, strong joint between words or phrases, such as "the hemingway/faulkner generation". the slash is also used to indicate a line break when quoting multiple lines from a poem, play, or headline; or in an ordinary prose quotation, the start of a new paragraph. in this case, a space is placed before and after the slash. for example: "love alters not with his brief hours and weeks / but bears it out even to the edge of doom". when used this way, the mark is called a virgule. it is thinner than a solidus if typeset. there are usually no spaces either before or after a slash: "male/female". exceptions are in representing the start of a new line when quoting verse, or a new paragraph when quoting prose. the chicago manual of style (at 6.104) also allows spaces when either of the separated items is a compound that itself includes a space: "our new zealand / western australia trip". (compare use of an en dash used to separate such compounds.) the canadian style: a guide to writing and editing prescribes "no space before or after an oblique when used between individual words, letters or symbols;
Punctuation