When working on the computer to set up Monotype casting jobs, one thing one must specify is the Normal Wedge (commonly just called “the wedge”). This is a narrow wedge-shaped accessory to the caster which determines how wide the type should be cast, depending on which row of the matrix case the mat is in.
Monotype has many wedges, depending on the exact mix of widths required for any particular font, and the wedge is specified as a combination of the desired set-width and the layout of individual widths on the wedge. The latter is specified using a number that almost invariably starts with “S”, by far the most common being the “S5” wedge. I believe the “S” stands for “stopbar”, which is the corresponding accessory for the Monotype Keyboard which provides the widths so space widths can be calculated for filled lines of text.
For some unknown-till-today reason, my fingers insist on typing “S9” instead of “S5”, and I was a bit mystified where my mind was coming up with “S9”. Today I finally realized that this dates back to early microcomputer days, before Windows, DOS, or even CP/M, where binary programs were entered as lines of text. One encoding was the so-called Motorola encoding (due to the popularity of the Motorola 6800 processor chip). These lines were each started with an “S” code, with “S9” (end-of-file) being the one that stuck in my head for so long!
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