What the flip is the purpose of the "~" key?

Question

I've always wondered that. But I like that key...it allows me to make cool faces like these tears: T~T!

Answer 1

Good question! Well I don't know what it's meant to be used for but sometimes I use it like a hyphen, like this:

Chapter 1 ~ The Blah

Chapter 2 ~The Blah Blah

Answer 2

It is used in math, and means "approximately".

3.16489 x 1.23547 = ~ 3.91012

Answer 3

It's just something to be there.. lol.

I'm kidding I don't know, but have wondered the same thing.

And what the heck does the e.g. thing stand for?

Answer 4

It's called a tilde. It can mean approximately, e.g. pi ~ 3.14.