Can anyone help me? Trying to dds, whose caterpillar arrived today from Germany, what that funny 'S' is, from Germany

[earlgrey]

And I can't remember. Even H, who's spent a few years out there, can't. TIA

Explain, that is.

Are you writing in code?

You mean a letter of the alphabet or something? Isn't it a double 's' which looks like a 'B' - or am I holding the wrong end of the stick completely?

Then letter that loks like a capital B is a double s.

Isn't it called "Scharfus S" or something?

No, zipp, I was just trying to do my best mum thing, talking about the stamps etc, and dds asked why it was Gro(S)britannien. And I couldn't answer, 'cos I didn't know.

The funny S is a esszet (sp?). Its an extra letter in the german alphabet that comes after an S. its kind of an S with z

\link{http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa092898.htm\have a look at this}

It is called "scharfes s" or "eszet". It's pronounced like ss. It is used after a long vowel (as in Großbritannien).

\linl{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_alphabet\Good old Wikipedia.}

And again: link{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_alphabet\Good old Wikipedia.}

Oh, I thought you meant a real caterpillar all curled up in an 'S' shape!

You know, Wikipedia is v good - look up German alphabet.

Apologies for brief hijack:
I have a vague memory that the "rules" for use of the Eszet changed 5-10 yrs ago. Is that correct?
If so can anyone summarize for me?

roisin, have a look at the link tissy posted below, it's all explained there.

look at my link roisin

Thank you

tissy, that's exactly the one. Thanks.

Didn't it get abolished in the spelling reform, though?

Not abolished completely, just used less.