Thanks to everyone who responded to my question about the name of the @
symbol. I have been asked to post the results. Apparently it has been
the subject of much discussion!
The most concise answer came from:
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutsymbols/atsign
This sign originated as a scribe's quick way of writing the Latin word
ad, especially in lists of prices of commodities. It is usually known as
`the at sign' or `the at symbol', which is good enough for most people.
It is sometimes called `commercial a', and occasionally by the French
name arrobe or arroba. It has acquired various nicknames in other
languages, but none has so far caught on in English.
Check out these other links about the @ symbol:
http://newsobserver.com/24hour/technology/story/667467p-4989302c.html
http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=at%20sign%20or%20@
http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/whereat.htm
http://www.robertfulford.com/AtSymbol.html
http://home.t-online.de/home/Hanno_Kuehnert/atengli.htm
http://www.hopstudios.com/nep/theatsignpage/
[An aside: From information on this site I learned that don't think I'll
order Strudel if I am ever in Hungary J ]
Kathy
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Nov 14 2007 - 20:44:27 PST