Common Use
This symbol (in English) sometimes means "approximately", such as: "~30 minutes ago" meaning "approximately 30 minutes ago". It can mean "similar to", including "of the same order of magnitude as", such as: x ~ y" meaning that x and y are of the same order of magnitude. Another approximation symbol is ≈, meaning "approximately equal to."
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Famous quotes containing the word common:
“The common consolation which some good christian or other, is hourly administering to himself,—that he thanks God his mind does not misgive him; and that, consequently, he has a good conscience, because he has a quiet one,—is fallacious.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“The British are a self-distrustful, diffident people, agreeing with alacrity that they are neither successful nor clever, and only modestly claiming that they have a keener sense of humour, more robust common sense, and greater staying power as a nation than all the rest of the world put together.”
—Quoted in Fourth Leaders from the Times (1950)