Please teach me a good mnemonic for remembering “slash” vs. “backslash” [closed]

Question

I have a colleague who keeps confusing slashes "slash" and "backslash" (As in: "Should I escape such-and-such with a slash?" My answer: "No.")

I'm trying to teach him the difference but so far just telling him the name of the symbol doesn't seem to stick. That's why I'm trying find a good mnemonic to help him remember, but I can't think of one.

I have seen the following:

/ is like a guy leaning forward
\ is like a guy leaning BACKward

But that requires you to remember that the guy is facing right, which just shifts the burden of remembering one arbitrary datum to remembering another arbitrary datum. (Case in point: when I told him that mnemonic, his response was "Oh yes, I see. But that only works if I remember that the guy is walking to the left." D'oh!)

So, is there a more easily remembered mnemonic for slash-vs-backslash? Perhaps one that relates to real-world experience?

Answer 1

On my keyboard, the BACKslash key is right below the BACKspace key.

And slaSH is right next to SHift.

Answer 2

Use this: A line was standing up. If it fell forwards, it's a forward slash, if it fell backward it's a backslash.

Answer 3

The top of a backslash points to the back. (when reading left-to-right, as English is read)

Answer 4

Backslash leaning backwards is pretty much the usual mnemonic as far as I know. It helps if you remember you type from left to right, and then the cursor always moves right - facing right.

Answer 5

In regular English usage, the forward slash is a common shorthand for "or" and is used in fractions, and the backslash isn't used at all. So it may help to remember where they're used and why.

Answer 6

If you are writing on a piece of paper and put your pen on the line and go forward and up to make the slash, it is a forward slash.