WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Grammar Minute: History of the Dollar Sign

Episode Date: April 30, 2025

Where does the $ sign come from--and should it have one line or two? Find out on today's episode of Grammar Minute!

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we're saving the English language 60 seconds out of time. I'm Lauren Smith, and as I like to remind people, I'm an economics major, so I care a little bit about money. I care more about tariffs and things like that, but trust me, you don't want to get me started on this topic. Anyway, this made me wonder, where does the dollar sign come from, and should it have one line through the S or two? Nobody really knows the history of this sign, but it's also called the peso sign, suggesting that it evolved. from Spanish Americans in the late 1700s. Originally, it was probably an abbreviation for PS, but like most of the weird symbols we now use,

people wrote it too fast, and it became an S with a line through it. Or two lines. Both versions of the symbol are correct, and the difference is merely stylistic. Personally, I find the single line is just a little bit easier to read. That's your Grammar Minute. Visit thegrammerminut.com for more tips and tricks.