# How do YOU say '&'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543 "2014-10-06T13:48:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/1 "2014-10-06T13:48:34Z")
Do you say ‘and’ or ‘en’ or ‘n’? The internet is not being very forthcoming. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/2 "2014-10-06T13:52:15Z")
“and” “Ampersand” is a contraction of “and per se and”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/3 "2014-10-06T13:54:53Z")
If I’m reading (out loud or in my head) it’s ‘and’, the character, as THK just said, is an ampersand. I’m not sure what the other options would be. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/4 "2014-10-06T14:02:58Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > If I’m reading (out loud or in my head) it’s ‘and’, the character, as THK just said, is an ampersand. > > I’m not sure what the other options would be. I sometimes would say ‘en’ or ‘n’ or ‘an’. I was trying to find online if that was a regional accent thing. TG&Y was a five and dime store based in Oklahoma and I _think_ everyone would pronounce it very quickly. It sounds odd to my ears to say “Tee, Gee, and Y” rather than “Teegee n Y” ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/5 "2014-10-06T14:08:18Z")
But " " is pronounced “and nubblespace.” ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/6 "2014-10-06T14:18:23Z")
What I think is “and”. What I’m more likely to actually vocalize is “in”, meaning “n”. My vocalization begins before my tongue is in the right place for the “n”, so it adds a short vowel sound in there, and it sounds like “in”. It’s definitely not the same vowel sound that begins “and” in my dialect. Mac -n- Cheese Peanut butter -n- jelly ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/7 "2014-10-06T14:29:07Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I sometimes would say ‘en’ or ‘n’ or ‘an’. I was trying to find online if that was a regional accent thing. Would people that say _en_ or _n_ or _an_ in place of _and_ also say it if ‘and’ was in that same spot as well? For example in the brand Dolce & Gabbana, many people say Dolce n Gabbana (or Dolce an Gabbana or D an B etc), but if it was written as Dolce and Gabbana or D and B, would they say it any different? Would the enunciate the word ‘and’ any differently? I think most people just mumble past the word and, it’s not that they’re pronouncing & and ‘and’ differently, you’ve just got some confirmation bias going on. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/8 "2014-10-06T14:32:42Z")
An ampersand (&) stands for the word “and.” That’s pronounced “and,” “an,” or “n” depending on phonetic context and regional variations. But it represents the word “and.” ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/9 "2014-10-06T14:40:51Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > What I think is “and”. What I’m more likely to actually vocalize is “in”, meaning “n”. My vocalization begins before my tongue is in the right place for the “n”, so it adds a short vowel sound in there, and it sounds like “in”. It’s definitely not the same vowel sound that begins “and” in my dialect. > > Mac -n- Cheese > > Peanut butter -n- jelly Those have nothing to do with ampersands. It’s just a slovening pronunciation of common phrases that have become, in a sense, words. You wouldn’t say “bushes -n- gravel” because those are three separate words which need articulation to be understood as such. Ampersands are a writing convenience. Different. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/10 "2014-10-06T14:43:09Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Those have nothing to do with ampersands. It’s just a slovening pronunciation of common phrases that have become, in a sense, words. You wouldn’t say “bushes -n- gravel” because those are three separate words which need articulation to be understood as such. > > Ampersands are a writing convenience. Different. I had (have) no idea that the OP was asking about a difference in pronunciation between the & and the “and”. That was brought in later, by another poster. If that is indeed what the OP was getting at, then no, I don’t pronounce Mac & Cheese and differently from Mac and Cheese in everyday speech. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/11 "2014-10-06T14:59:17Z")
I pronounce it ampersand period That apostrophe s the way I pronounce all punctuation comma doesn apostrophe t everyone question mark ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/12 "2014-10-06T15:03:41Z")
I read it exactly as I would ‘and’ in the same sentence (since that is what it is, and all)…which, depending on a bunch of factors could be either ‘and’, ‘an’, or ‘nn’. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/13 "2014-10-06T16:41:29Z")
Of course, if it’s written in this font : & it looks more like “Et” than “And”. In French we pronounce the ampersand as “et” when it appears in French text (which is pretty rare). However, if it’s part of an English name or phrase (“Earth, Wind & Fire”, “Dunn & Bradstreet”) it’s usually pronounced “and”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/14 "2014-10-06T16:51:07Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > Of course, if it’s written in this font : > > & > > it looks more like “Et” than “And”… And when it’s written like this “&” it looks like a guy dragging his butt across the floor. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/15 "2014-10-06T17:06:59Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > And when it’s written like this “&” it looks like a guy dragging his butt across the floor. Heh, never noticed that before. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/16 "2014-10-06T17:22:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Heh, never noticed that before. [I did.](http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/has-anyone-else-noticed-that-the-symbol-looks-like-a-man-dragging-his-butt-across-the-floor.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/17 "2014-10-06T19:05:48Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > And when it’s written like this “&” it looks like a guy dragging his butt across the floor. It’s a sorta-cursive or sorta-reverse-italic version of the handicapped icon [light pink handicapped symbol](http://www.clipartbest.com/cliparts/McL/g9r/McLg9rKca.svg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/18 "2014-10-06T19:07:59Z")
Another vote that & is pronounced exactly like “and”. Which may be pronounced “and” “an”, or schwa-n depending on the rest of the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/19 "2014-10-06T19:58:44Z")
The & is an abbreviation for “et” and depending on the font it can look that way. It is an ampersand. The “et” is Latin for “and.” When reading aloud it would be normal to say “and” unless you were talking about the ampersand or “and sign” itself. I have heard it mispronounced as “andpersand” by those who ought to know better, but they were talking about the character and not the word it’s a stand-in for. Try spelling P&er next time you want to refer to P&er Paul & Mary. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543/20 "2014-10-07T02:12:59Z")
I did a small poll a work. Everyone (Including a woman from Philly) pronounced TG&Y as “Tee, Gee, en (or n), Y” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-say/700543.md?page=2)