>...
>>>was supposed to be circumflex - ^
>>>>
>>>>We call it a caret
>>>
>>>No, it's circumflex. < or > are left- and right-caret, surely.
>>
>>Check Webster's. We call it a 'caret'. We normally refer to > as the "greater than" sign, and < as the "less than" sign, but yes, I know ^ can also be referred to as a 'circumflex'. Here it's just waaaaaay more common to call it a 'caret'. I suppose it also depends on the use. A circumflex is used to clarify pronunciation or accent, or whatever. A caret is used to show an insert.
>
>Well, as you seemed so sure I eventually did check and got:
>
>"a wedge-shaped mark made on written or printed matter to indicate the place where something is to be inserted"
>
>How that is intrerpreted as being "an up-pointing arrow that goes on top of a letter to denote a different pronunciation, or where, say, in French, the "e" was formerly followed by an "s" (e.g. fenêtre cf fenestre)" I don't know.

I think you just lost me. Clearly, you looked up 'caret'. Did you look up 'circumflex'?

>
>Trust me, a caret is "greater than" or "less than" symbol. But as long as the "we" in your office are all on the same page about the meaning I suppose no harm's done :-)

I trust you, and if it were just my office, I'd happily accept your definition, but believe me, it's hardly just my office.

Editors constantly use ^ to insert words or letters into documents, and they call it a 'caret'. I don't recall seeing < or > used the same way, but I suppose they could be - to insert lines maybe?