"forward slash" is what's known as a 'back formation' - which is where an old word changes in response to the appearance of a new thing or word. For example, typewriter just always meant typewriters until electric typewriters appeared, at which point "manual typewriter" appeared as a back-formation.
Cos, I'm surprised to learn that people pronounce the slash in reading things like "his/hers" - I always use the words 'or' or 'and' there. In fact, one of the writing guides I try to follow is never to use slashes in that way because the person reading it doesn't know whether you mean "or" or "and." Use those words instead - or so I was taught.
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momijizukamori
Amusingly
Date: 2010-05-26 14:59 (UTC)Cos, I'm surprised to learn that people pronounce the slash in reading things like "his/hers" - I always use the words 'or' or 'and' there. In fact, one of the writing guides I try to follow is never to use slashes in that way because the person reading it doesn't know whether you mean "or" or "and." Use those words instead - or so I was taught.