The History of the "@" Symbol (Part 1)

Re:The History of the "@" Symbol (Part 1) by nirvdrum on Sunday July 24, 2011 @03:41PM (#2800167)

I was more surprised that at no point in the article is it referred to as an "ampersat." I was under the impression that was the name of the symbol. A quick Google search seems to indicate that's the case, too. But I'm far from a typography expert or symbologist. Does anyone know if that is the official name for the character?

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Re:The History of the "@" Symbol (Part 1) by jc123 on Monday July 25, 2011 @05:07AM (#2801885)

English should come up with a word for this symbol. 'ampersat' is a funny derivation but seems reasonable given the other non-existent options. I once went on the radio show 'A Way With Words' and proposed 'atra': short and sounds good.

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Re:The History of the "@" Symbol (Part 1) by derleth on Sunday July 24, 2011 @03:48PM (#2800179)

'Official', in this context, can only mean 'sanctioned by a standards body', which isn't a deciding factor in how words actually get used in a living language.

In short, it's a word if it gets used as one.

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