A skewer for bad text — the obelus was a critic's mark that spitted doubtful passages in ancient manuscripts, before becoming the division sign.
A typographical symbol (÷ or †) used historically to mark spurious or doubtful passages in manuscripts.
From Greek obelos meaning a pointed pillar or spit, used metaphorically for a critical mark that skewered questionable text Key roots: obelos (Greek: "pointed pillar, spit").
The obelus (÷) is now used worldwide as the division sign in mathematics, but its original purpose was nothing to do with math — it was a text critic's mark meaning "this passage is suspicious." The same root gives us obelisk, which is literally a "little spit" — the ancient Egyptians' giant stone needles looked like cooking skewers to the Greeks.