What is [the @ symbol] called[?]

[chowder]

This>>>& is an ampersand

So what is the proper name for this>>@

[jjimm]

@:

…no formal English term has been officially assigned to this character

[Gfactor]

English: The “at” sign, at. Also often used for an array in programming.

http://www.hopstudios.com/nep/theatsignpage/

Some English speakers call @ “commercial-a” or “commercial-at.” Also heard in English:

* mercantile symbol
* commercial symbol
* scroll, or scroll-a
* arobase
* each
* about
* vortex
* whorl
* whirlpool
* cyclone
* snail
* schnable
* cabbage

http://www.herodios.com/atsign.htm

[chowder]

Way to kill a thread m’boy

[Gfactor]

Moderating:

I took the liberty of making the thread title a bit more descriptive.

[chowder]

Thanks

[chorpler]

With the large-scale adopting of the @ symbol as the divider between username and host in e-mail addresses, it seems like everybody will be calling it “at” forevermore, even if it doesn’t have a formal name.

[JKellyMap]

In Spanish it’s called “arroba”. Only recently did I find out that that’s the name of an old, now little-used unit of volume – sort of like our “peck”. I presume the symbol was once used to designate that unit, and has now been revived massively for its new use in the dot-com era.

[beowulff]

Lots of user contributions from different languages: Does the symbol @ have a name? If not, any suggestions? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk

[Kairos]

From the Jargon File : The official ANSI/CCITT name is “commercial at.” It also goes by: at sign; at; strudel; each; vortex; whorl; whirlpool; cyclone; snail; ape; cat; rose; cabbage.

[Polycarp]

“At sign” is all I’ve ever seen used, and I’ve encountered the names for other signs.

This, for example, is a virgule: /

This is an octothorpe: #

This seems to be most often referred to as a pipe, presumably from programming: |

And this, of course, is a virgule sinister*, also called a backslash: \

• Yes, “Virgule Sinister” does sound like a minor character from the Harry Potter books.

[fiddlesticks]

My typing teacher called it an “at” sign back in the '80s. In the typing exercises it was typically used in such quantity orientated phrases like “4 apples @ $1.00.”

I see the linked Guardian article notes that the Dutch call it a “monkey tail”. That also what the Germans call it: Affenschwanz.

[Hari_Seldon]

Appersat.

[AskNott]

@fiddlesticks

My typing teacher called it an “at” sign back in the '80s. In the typing exercises it was typically used in such quantity orientated phrases like “4 apples @ $1.00.”

I see the linked Guardian article notes that the Dutch call it a “monkey tail”. That also what the Germans call it: Affenschwanz.

My typing teacher in 1966 did the same.

Yow! “Schwanz” means “tail” in German? That shines a new light on all those guys in non-polite conversation, talking about their “tails!”

ETA: I’m trying to figure out if Hari Seldon’s “Appersat” affects my post.

[x-ray_vision]

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=320243&highlight=Appersat

[jackelope]

@Hari Seldon

Appersat.

Do you mean “ampersat”? I’ve heard it called that, but I assume someone made it up by analogy to the ampersand:

& > “and” > ampersand

@ > “at” > ampersat

My favorite is the “interrobang” (which I believe is the username of a poster here):

‽

(If that character doesn’t display, check here for more info.)

[AskNott]

@jackelope

Do you mean “ampersat”? I’ve heard it called that, but I assume someone made it up by analogy to the ampersand:

& > “and” > ampersand

@ > “at” > ampersat

My favorite is the “interrobang” (which I believe is the username of a poster here):

‽

(If that character doesn’t display, check here for more info.)

I’m on thin ice, here, but bear with me. I thought I’d seen this in one of Charles Earle Funk’s little books of peculiar words and phrases. I just checked the indexes of all four, though, with no luck.

It goes something like this. Long ago English schoolchildren, learning their letters, would recite “a, per se, a. b, per se, b.” and so on. Per se meant “as it is” (in Latin?) When they came to the punctuation, it went the same way. “&” was “and, per se, and.” Later on, kids simply said “A,B,C”, and so on. The “&”, though, had already slipped from “and, per se, and” to “ampersand.”

So, perhaps appersat came from the same chain of events. Or, perhaps it didn’t. That’s as far as I care to chase it.

Sometimes, such as in this font, the “&” is pictured as a stylized uppercase E mooshed together with a lowercase t. That is more clearly from the French (and Latin?) “et.” It looks more like a half pretzel in my usual font.

That’s the best I can do. If it’s mistaken, it’s mistaken, and I’ll take no offense if you harpoon it and leave its carcass rotting on the beach.

(I have tried to repair the punctuation in this post, but I probably still have a few commas misplaced. Sorry.)

[KneadToKnow]

@fiddlesticks

My typing teacher called it an “at” sign back in the '80s.

Same here. My first middle school typing class would have been in the 1980-81 school year.

[Aioua]

and of course, & doesn’t stand for “and” it stands for “et.” (latin “and”!) So the ampersat construction really falls apart. On the plus side, instead of “etc.” you could type “&c.” and no one could say you were wrong.

[AskNott]

In the late 1950s, I was taught the octothorpe/pound/hash/sharp sign as a number/pound sign. Placed ahead of a number (#8,) it meant “number 8.” Placed after a number, (8#,) it meant “8 pounds (weight).” Back then, the pound usage was rarely seen.

Now, it’s all different. “Pound” is usually the name, leading some computer rookies to pound on their keyboards. :eek: