Edited sentence: 'NOT'), or decoratively.(Note: In HTML 4 "~" is defined as "varies with" or "similar to".(no standardized keyboard entry method), and are not universally rendered correctly in web browsers (in fact, you may be seeing boxes instead of symbols right now) and are not commonly parsed correctly in web tools like commenting and forums.A way of writing "approximately equal to" ("almost equal to" \ "equals approximately" \ "approximately equals") in standard internet-based text (email, comment forms, forums, message boards, et cetera) or plain text applications is =~.The ~ symbol is too often used to indicate some other meaning (e.≅ and ≈ are symbols that are not easy for people to enter in email, forums, etc