character An asterisk ("*", see also splat, ASCII).

Notionally, from "I regret that I have only one asterisk for

my country!" ("life to give" -@# "ass to risk" -@# "asterisk"),

a misquote of the famous remark uttered by Nathan Hale just

before he was hanged. Hale was a (failed) spy for the rebels

in the American War of Independence.