Today is the day to honor the ampersand \u2014 you know, that strange curly symbol that\u2019s often used in place of the word \u201cand\u201d in logos and places where a person writing a sentence is trying to save some time, or is running out of space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re like most people, you probably give very little thought to this symbol and that makes it even more important that it should have its own holiday \u2014 every year, September 8 is known as National Ampersand Day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s some interesting things you may not know about this symbol most of us use often:
The symbol \u201c&\u201d has been around for more than 1,500 years.
The ampersand originally meant \u201cet\u201d or \u201cand\u201d in Latin.
The ampersand was actually a part of the English alphabet during the early 19th century. It was the last letter in the alphabet.
The ampersand is both a ligature and a logogram.
The ampersand is a commonly used special character for people\u2019s passwords.\u00a0
A lot of companies and brands use ampersands in their names and\/or logos \u2014 such as, Ben & Jerry\u2019s, M&M, Smith & Wesson, A&E, AT&T, and Barnes & Noble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The symbol actually has a long and storied history\u2026.
The origin of ampersand is from the Latin Language and the alphabet position as per Latin is 27. The symbol is a logogram and began as a ligature of the letters \u201cet,\u201d Latin for the world \u201cand.\u201d The symbol goes back thousands of years but first showed up in English during the late 18th century. During the late Middle Ages, single letters that were not only letters, but could also function as a word, such as \u201cA\u201d and \u201cI,\u201d were referred to as letters by using the phrase \u201cper se.\u201d That phrase was used to clarify that the letter was being used in that context and not the word.
For example, if someone wanted to refer just to the letter \u201cI\u201d and not the word \u201cI,\u201d then they would say I per se, I.\u201d This means in Latin \u201cI by itself.\u201d When the 27th letter of the English alphabet was added, \u201c&\u201d would be referred to as \u201c& per se, and.\u201d That meant \u201c& per se, means and.\u201d Eventually, that evolved into the word we now use, ampersand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
National Ampersand Day was invented by Chaz DeSimone, the founder of Amper Art in 2015. Amber Art is a website that was founded in 2011 \u2014 it showcases ampersand art posters that DeSimone has created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So today I\u2019m going to make sure to use an ampersand in everything I write\u2026.\u00a0
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is the day to honor the ampersand \u2014 you know, that strange curly symbol that\u2019s often used in place of the word \u201cand\u201d in logos and places where a person writing a sentence is trying to save some time, … Continue reading