It was “number symbol” or “pound symbol” and lately, “hashtag.”
And, for us Old Folks who still see this - # - as pound, it gives new meaning to the #metoo movement...
Yeah, oh so smart Alyssa Milano and her crowd didn’t think that through.
In 6th grade, I remember (better memory than widdle Chrissy) getting tired of writing, “I will not talk in class.” 100 times on the blackboard so just used ditto marks. Teacher wasn’t pleased but let it go. I never had to do that punishment again ;) .
Kiddo’s math teacher would use @ instead of X in multiplication equations. Try as we might, kiddo refused to listen to us that it was wrong. It took the next year’s math teacher to correct it.