T H E
AMPERSAN D E D V I N
T H U N G R E N
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quod erat demonstrandum the ampersand is upon us
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foreword introduction information / sign history interviews others typography my typography word history / alternative names register sources
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FOREWORD
This is a book about the ampersand. I’m calling it that. Some call it “and”– sign or “et”–sign and some the “et”–ligature which historically haven’t necessarily been the same thing. The Swedish dictionary Nationalencykolpedien suggests “et–tecken” but the
fact that it’s not in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista (The Swedish Academys Word Dictionary) suggests that it’s not a official Swedish word. Yet the sign has been present in Swedish writing at least since we stopped using the gothic alphabet which over a hundred years ago.
F O R E W O R D
This is one of the things I’ve been pondering while writing this book that is my bachelor work in graphic design. Another question that has come up several times is what I want to say with my work? My answer to that is that this work is not founded on me wanting to say something special or making a statement. This work is founded on the fascination and exploration of the detail.
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On how something as small and seemingly insignificant as a complementary glyph for the latin alphabet can have such a rich history that you can use it as an indicator on the history of the entire western european writing the last 2000 years. On how almost every professional with ties to text has some sort of relation to it. Whether it’s graphic designers, typographers, calligraphers, writers or linguists. This book is therefore dedicated to the joy of curious investigation and historical research and to the exploration of a beautiful sign. Keep that in mind. Edvin Thungren 2011
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Who are you? This is a frequent question in froufrou lifestyle contexts, but also an existential one. The question of how you take your coffee is inoffensive even if you happen to prefer tea. The question of what animal “you are” may require a bit more contemplation. Wise? Adroit one? Cute? And when someone asks you who you’d be if you didn’t happen to be precisely yourself, the time runs out before you can decide on your answer. Obviously, our choices reveal our deeper selves. Large or small, they say something about who we are, or aspire to being. In his undergraduate thesis in the applied arts, Edvin Thungren scrutinizes the ampersand, a typographical curlicue with an astonishingly rich history. He studies its origins and construction, fascinated by how people have related to this symbol over time, not least the hordes of typographers and linguists who have devoted themselves to inventing names for it, and to its exegesis. In his introduction, Thungren states that he is not going to be prescriptive about its applications and that, in fact, it may be impossible to establish when the ampersand is most appropriately used. This raises the issue of whether there is any purely practical justification for its existence at all. Although it may have been invented once upon a time to save the engraver or the scribe a little sweat, today (when fewer and fewer documents are written by hand) the most it can save anyone is a couple of keystrokes in comparison with et or ‘n and none whatsoever compared with +.
introduction
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My curiosity is piqued. When people choose to use the ampersand today, do they do so for purely stylistic reasons? If so, would it be possible to characterize the user? Might one speculate that the user of the little ‘n would be a good–natured young father who goes on at length about his children’s colds and his housing co–op’s allotment garden (and who talks baby talk even to those of us who have been potty trained for decades)? And the person who writes et, might she be your grandmother (or some other elderly female relative with a head of hair like cotton candy)? What about the champion of the + sign: is he a man whose pride and joy are his roof garden and his art photography collection? He likes white. He loves black. And once upon a time he wrote a novel with no punctuation, set at a PR agency. Is the advocate of the slash a chilly soul? He even wears his cap indoors. His lifestyle blends typographical acrobatics with imported ale and spare parts for his canary–yellow velodrome bike. And if all this is true, who is the proponent of the ampersand? I can tell you. She sat at the desk next to mine throughout secondary school. A flowery lass, inclined to hum, with hair so long she could sit on it. She adored flourishes. The G clef was king, but a bit too much trouble. So she favored the ampersand instead, and couldn’t wait to turn eighteen to have it tattooed over her right shoulder. Nina, if you’re reading this, please be in touch and let me know how it worked out! Andreas Kittel
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fig. X metamorphose from e+t to ampersand
I N F O R M A T I O N
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et–tecken, och–tecken, engelska ampersand, tecken med formen &. Tecknet, som är symbol för latinets et ‘och’, förekommer ofta i namn på företag, t.ex. Malva Radio & TV, Malmstedt & Co. ampersand [‘æmpəsænd] subst. et-tecken, och-tecken, & ampersand. translation of ampersand according to swedish dictionary nationalencyklopedien
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H istory
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&? The ampersand or the and – /et – sign as it’s often referred to is a ligature of the latin word for and; et. A ligature is a joining of letters with the purpose of quickening the writing. It’s not the length of the word but its frequency that compels forth the abbreviations and “and” is one of the most frequently used words in most languages. But the history of the and–sign didn’t start there. It started a long time ago in Rome, sometime in the century just prior to the birth of Christ. As the story goes a former slave now secretary to Cicero called Marcus Tullius Tiro invented a shorthand system for writing notes on wax plates, later known as Tironian notes. His writing would set standard for stenography and leave traces way in to modern times. Not least through his and-sign, nowadays referred to as a Tironian seven as its looks reminds of the modern number 7.
AB fig. X & X early tironian 7
At the end of antiquity, around 300 A.D. the old Tironian writing system was being phased out to make place for the more modern cursive writing that was adapted for papyrus and parchment and in many ways is similar to the cursive writing of today. Ligatures was used diligently for all sorts of different letter combinations and abbreviations. As a result writing was getting more and more unreadable and because of that Charlemagne ordered in the ninth century A.D. that language and writing should be reformed into a standard. The result of which is known as the Carolingian minuscule. It’s based on a lot of different older components but is mainly a stylization of the young roman cursive. In favor of clarity and readability all ligatures was removed except one; the e+t–ligature.
BCDFGHNOPRa fig. X-X early cursive to carolingian minuscule
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Initially the ligature was used generally on every situation where the e+t occurred and could even be seen overlapping word boundaries. fig. X martire tuo
However its application was changed gradually and in the twelfth century the usage almost solely was as an and–sign. Change is also seen in the transformation from the e+t–ligature into something contorted.
nopq fig. X-X 12th century
Around the turn of the thirteenth century a total change in style is made in connection to the gothic style art movement taking over from romanesque style. The looks of the writing is changed and several characters from prior to the Carolingian minuscule was reinstated. One of these, the Tironian seven replaces the e+t–ligature entirely.
GJKL
fig. X-X early gothic 7
For the following two hundred years until around 1400 A.D. there was a total domination of gothic script or “blackletter” in the entire western Europe, something that would linger on in northern Europe for another couple of hundred years. In Germany as late as the 20th century. What started ousting the gothic script in the 15th century was the humanist script that arose in Italy. The writing, or the Humanist minuscule as its also known as, was based on old handwritten documents in the style of the Carolingian minuscule from the eleventh century. It included pretty clear ligatures of e+t unlike the twelfth century ones and in most cases they were only used for “and”. The printed styles that later was based on the Humanist scripture is called antiquas or humanist antiquas.
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fig. X & X humanist minuscule, 15th century
H I S T O R Y
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So when did the e+t–ligature become an “and”–symbol in other languages then Italian? In the roman languages it spread early on since their word for “and” already was “et”. It also came early to England where Humanist writing and antiquas is used as early as during the sixteenth century.
DPQRS T UVW JKnqrstu fig. X-X 15th & 16th century
fig. X-X 16th century
The german and nordic speaking languages, with their blackletter and fraktur as a common script based on blackletter is called, held on to their old styles much longer and used Humanist writing for latin and the occasional french poetry only.
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fig. X-X late gothic 7, gutenberg
efnopqstu fig. X-X 17th century
During the seventeenth century gothic writing is entirely ousted in England and there are plenty of e+t–ligatures for “and”. Thanks to the Humanist writing master sheets and printing houses’ pattern books fondness for letting the e+t–sign end their alphabets it led to people perceiving as an integrated part of it.
HITUVXdftv fig. X-X 18th -19th century
This led to that the word ampersand was invented when the english children learned the alphabet. See page LXV. The sign has been extremely popular during the nineteenth and twentieth century and according to some people overused. This is probably because of the english hand writing masters who put a lot of effort in inserting “The Italic Hand” into the English school system. One of the most prominent and influential modern writing masters is Albert Fairbanks who had a substantial affect on scripture during the middle of the 20th century where he amongst other made a script with & as the normal form of “and”.
fig. X albert fairbanks c. 1950
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Fairbanks’ contemporary colleague Reynolds Stone even went as far as creating a new typeface with both a capital and a lower case ampersand.
fig. X & X humanist minuscule, 15th century
Also Eric Gill used the sign redundantly in his famous publication An essay on typography from 1931 where he uses the sign instead of “and” consistently through all body texts. With the English language spreading not least through the computers the &-sign has had a significant upsurge in Sweden the last decennia. In the great abundance of typefaces today we can only note that its looks varies between pure symbol and the clear shapes for e+t that works just as well for the swedish “och”. Although its shapes never wanders far away from any of the three main variations I’ve been able to identify. [PIC symbol& ligature& cursive&]
Whether todays usage is going towards an overuse or abuse of the sign remains to be seen. The common conception amongst text designers today seems to be that an overuse of the sign is a disadvantage to the word formations and its readability. But who knows, the words of today looks a lot different then the ones just a couple of hundred of years ago.
H I S T O R Y
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7: tironian seven / &: et–ligature antiquity common writing 7 tiros’s stenographic system for vax plates, i.e. 7 for ‘and’. old roman italic &
late antiquity early middle ages 7 “tironian 7“ can appear in margins et.c. c. 300-750 common writing young roman italic & ligatures normal shortening method, & for et (‘and‘) one of many ligatures in use.
750–1200 carolingan 7 the 7 very rare, appears momentarily in minuscle in colloquial language. often use of 7 in europe colloquial language. insulated writings & erases most ligatures except & which to begin with becomes standard. on the brittish & alternates with 7 in latin texts. islands. 12th century splitting between 7 the 7 reappears and is used both in latin and carolingan and colloquial speaking gothic writing & & falling from grace. weird shapes. few examples i.e. icelandic.
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7: tironian seven / &: et–ligature 1200–1400 gothic writings 7 the 7 reappears and is used both in latin and colloquial speaking & & falling from grace. weird shapes. few examples i.e. icelandic. from c. 1400 humanist writing 7 the 7 is removed from humanist writings as spreads from italy it’s *typically gothic* based on the carolingan minuscle, base & the et-ligature is reinstated as typical for the for new printing “antique“ writing (in practice = the carolingan styles, the writing) “antiquas“ from c. 1500 humanist writings 7 the 7 is still used in gothic writing and fraktur and the antiqua style, even for colloquial language and. (also are further spread in irish writing and printing) in latin and roman languages; & the et-ligature comes with humanist writing germanic and the antiqua. often used for ‘and‘ in languages still roman languages, seldom in the germanic uses mostly gothic languages writing and fraktur styles 17th century humanist writing / 7 the 7 still exists in gothic writing and fraktur antiqua becomes popular in england & the et-ligature starts spreading even in england
H I S T O R Y
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7: tironian seven / &: et–ligature 18th & 19th century 7 the 7 disapears even from the fraktur; new triumph of the fraktur styles have & – ligature antiqua: only germany left on & the et – ligature is very common in english, gothic ground the word ampersand appears
20th century the antiqua 7 triumphs even in germany & the et – ligature spreads via english
21st century fraktur style is 7 only ireland has kept the 7 only “decorative” & & everywhere for ‘and,‘ specially in programming languages
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unicode
Ampersand U + 0026 01 CODE POINT VALUE 02 NAME ( UNICODE NAME ) 03 GENERAL CATEGORY 04 COMBINING CLASS 05 BIDIRECTIONAL CATEGORY 06 DECOMPOSITION MAPPING 07 DECIMAL DIGIT VALUE 08 DIGIT VALUE 09 NUMERIC VALUE 10 MIRRORED 11 UNICODE 1.0 NAME 12 ISO 10646 COMMENT FIELD 13 UPPERCASE MAPPING 14 LOWERCASE MAPPING 15 TITLECASE MAPPING 16 DECIMAL VALUE 17 UTF– 8 HEX VALUE 18 UTF–16 HEX VALUE 19 UTF– 32 HEX VALUE 20 XHTML 21 BLOCK 22 PLANE 23 STROKE NUMBER 24 RADICAL
0026 AMPERSAND Punctuation, Other Spacing, split, enclosing, reordrant, and Tibetan subjoined Other Neutrals — — — — No AMPERSAND — — — — 38 0x26 0x0026 0x00000026 &#38 Basic Latin Basic Multilingual Plane ( BMP ) — —
I N F O R M A T I O N
related
Ech Yiwn (ew) ligature U + 0587
Tironian et–sign U + 204A
Arabic sign sindhi ampersand U+ 06FD
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programming with & The ampersand is also used in computer programming. Most commonly in C, C++ and programming languages derived from those such as Java, JavaScript, C# and Perl but also for some languages that belong to completely different programming paradigms such as Haskell. Recently Google’s own programming language Go which was announced as late as November of 2009 uses the ampersand symbol as well.
I N F O R M A T I O N
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It has three primary uses. If two ampersands are put next to each other (&&) it corresponds to the logical operator and which takes two binary expressions, that is two expressions that evaluate to true or false and result in a binary expression that is true if and only if both of the operands are true. When only one ampersand is used it can either be used as the bitwise and operator which takes two integral expressions and performs logical and with each underlying bit. The third use is for languages that use pointers explicitly such as C, C++ or Go. When only one ampersand symbol is applied to a single variable it returns a pointer to that variable i.e. it returns the memory address on which the variable is stored. made human by mattias johnsson
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qwerty/qwertz/azerty There are different ways of typing & on your computer depending on what keyboard settings you’ve got. Not included: alt Gr + c Hungarian
I N F O R M A T I O N
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keyboard shortcut: shift + 6 Austrian, Bosnian, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish multilingual, German, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portuguese (Portugal), Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish (Spain and Latin America), Swedish, Swiss, Turkish. shift + 7 Albanian, Canadian french & multilingual, Czech, Irish, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, United Kingdom, United States. & (1) French, Belgian.
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anatomy 1. lobe 2. beak 3. crossbar 4. bilateral serif 5. finial 6. bracket
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participants robert slimbach christer hellmark gรถran sรถderstrรถm fredrik andersson garth walker bulent erkmen
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fig. X & X humanist minuscule, 15th century
I N T E R V I E W S
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robert slimbach adobes typeface designer father of many famous fonts including poetica, a font with 58 ampersands included. > What is your view on the ampersand sign? I see it both as a functional and decorative form. It is also one of the few glyphs that can be personalized within most formal fonts without too many design restrictions. > How do you use & vs. and? In normal typographic settings I tend to limit its use to phrases and titles that may benefit from an added decorative embellishment. I tend not to use it in running text as a substitute for “and� except when it is part of an established title or phrase. With chancery italic fonts, and other calligraphic styles, I feel there is a bit more latitude to use the ampersand more often in conjunction with swash letters and alternate forms. > Do you see any difference between your use of the ampersand sign compared with others, both nationaly and internationaly? I sense that the conventions for its use are fairly well defined and consistently applied throughout the world. However, there may be exceptions that I’m not aware of. > Are you using the ampersand sign different now compared to the beginning of your careeer? No, not really.
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fig. X & X humanist minuscule, 15th century
I N T E R V I E W S
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> Why do you think the ampersand is so common on book covers? Probably because the ampersand is commonly incorporated into book titles. It is a wonderful decorative device that can add personality to display titles. > Do you have any favorite designs of the ampersand; custom or part of a typeface? I’ve always liked Hernann Zapf’s ampersands in Palatino. I also like the style of ampersand used by Nicolaus Jenson and Cluade Garamond. > Do you have any advice for someone designing an ampersand? Because the ampersand is an “et” ligature, designers should remember to retain some trace of these two letters is the design. Also, I think it is wise to stick to a variation of a historical style in most cases. > What is your view on the future use of the ampersand considering text messages and computer writing? As long as text is entered manually on small input devices, shorthand symbols like the ampersand will most likely persist. > Would there be any point in making a new lower case ampersand adapted for longer texts? Even though I don’t see a great need for one, in the right hands a lowercase ampersand might be effectively applied to longer texts. A small cap version of the larger standard form might work well in this case, or perhaps a lowercase et–style adapted to upright fonts.
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christer hellmark swedish design authority had a stroke in 2005 these are his first designrelated words since interview via ingegärd waaranperä > What is your view on the ampersand sign? That it’s not supposed to be used in fluent texts instead of “and”. However Eric Gill thought that you should use it (in English texts). But he was wrong. >Why is Eric Gill wrong regarding & in fluent text, do they produce worse word pictures or what affects the judgement of right and wrong? Generally I think you should write out abbreviations, thus for example instead of e.g. One strives to make the text into something else then a rebus. > How do you use & vs. and? I only use & in shorter texts or as an esthetic element. > Why do you think that the word ampersand is neither in The Swedish Academys Word Dictionary nor Nationalencyklopedien? They don’t know what it is. It’s not a word, just a glyph. Misunderstood Latin. And misunderstandings maybe aren’t appreciated. > Do you see any difference between your use of the ampersand sign compared with others, both nationally and internationally? Don’t know.
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> Are you using the ampersand sign different now compared to the beginning of your careeer? No, I’ve never wasted with it. > Why do you think the ampersand is so common on book covers? I think it has to do with the format, big grades, narrow space = hard to fit many words in width. Can look nice sometimes as well. > Do you have any favorite designs of the ampersand; custom or part of a typeface? Adobe Garamond italic, Galliard italic, Baskerville italic. For ampersand freaks there’s always the typeface Poetica which like Adobe Garamond is drawn by Robert (Christer asks for help with the last name here). It contains amongst others a font with only (!) ampersands, 54 if I can remember right. > The name of the man who made Poetica is Robert Slimbach and is one of the persons I’m sending the same questions to. I think it’s 58 different but haven’t counted lately. I heard Slimbach in Rome, a lecture about Garamond. > Do you have any advice for someone designing an ampersand? It should show that it’s a joining (ligature) of e and t.
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göran söderström swedish typographer
> What is your view on the ampersand sign? It’s a decorative character that you seldom get to use, but I enjoy drawing it when making typefaces. > What is it you like about drawing the ampersand? It should, like numbers, work with both capital and lower case letters which instantly makes it a whole other challenge. There are also a couple of parts of the ampersands that makes it look unbalanced. > Why do you think that the word ampersand is neither in The Swedish Academys Word Dictionary nor Nationalencyklopedien? Because it’s not a Swedish word. > Do you see any difference between your use of the ampersand sign compared with others, both nationally and internationally? Feels like it’s more common in the US. > How do you use & vs. and? “&” in word pictures, names and headlines sometimes. “And” is used for everything else.
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> Are you using the ampersand sign different now compared to the beginning of your careeer? No. > Why do you think the ampersand is so common on book covers? Because it’s a cheap way of making decoration. > Do you have any favorite designs of the ampersand; custom or part of a typeface? I like the regular standardized & that we see most commonly, i.e. the shape used e.g. in Helvetica. It feels a bit overkill when it looks like Et. > Do you have any advice for someone designing an ampersand? Yes. Hold back your ambitions somewhat. It’s easy to exaggerate the design. It’s decorative enough in its basic form. > Would there be any point in making a new lower case ampersand adapted for longer texts? It is already lower case. And capital. > What is your view on the future use of the ampersand considering text messages and computer writing? No. The kids write “o” when they want to express “and”?
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fredrik andersson swedish graphic designer
swedenborg regular & italic
orla regular & italic
nu-intitutet regular
botkyrka konsthall regular
berling nova sans regular & italic
fig. X & by fredrik andersson /pangea design 2011
> What is your view on the ampersand sign? The & – glyph is a curious squiggle with its own logic. Same thing could really be said about most letters in our alphabet. > How do you use & vs. and? In some logotypes an & – sign can replace “and”. For example http://www.elegantepress.com/2010/10/clean-design-forletterpress-business-card/ It stands out too much in fluid text, gives a certain mannerism in the same way the archaic ligature combinations like ct and st do. > Do you see any difference between your use of the ampersand sign compared with others, both nationaly and internationaly? I believe I’m a part of the international tradition of not putting so much emphasis on the & – sign.
I N T E R V I E W S
XLI
> Are you using the ampersand sign different now compared to the beginning of your careeer? I used it very seldom already early in my career. > Why do you think the ampersand is so common on book covers? I don’t know whether it’s that common but I imagine that it has to do with its decorative potential. > Do you have any favorite designs of the ampersand; custom or part of a typeface? If you should use it at all it should be as a something distinctive, a contrast. As super ascetic and sober there is the Akzidenz Grotesk light version. If it’s a more crazy & – sign you’re after then choose freely from Herb Lubalin’s œuvre. > Do you have any advice for someone designing an ampersand? Study the existing et – signs from the canon of typography; the ones that has shaped our generation’s view of what de facto represents an et – sign. Learn to understand the lines that builds the shape. Draw it by hand until it’s in your wrist. > What is your wiev on the future use of the ampersand considering text messages and computer writing? There will always be a need of short forms of words and expressions where text is compressed to its absolute essence. There will be no great need in traditional media so I can’t imagine any changes there. On the other hand I had a firm belief that the Sony Walkman was unbeatable in both format and storage capability when it came out. So what do I know.
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garth walker south african graphic designer
> What is your view on the ampersand sign? I like it because there are so many variations. (unlike other letters in the alphabet) > Is it commonly used in South Africa? Same as everywhere else. > Is there some sort of equivalent in the African languages that you know of? Not that I know of – so probably not. > Do you see any difference between your use of the ampersand sign compared with others, both nationaly and internationaly? Depends on the font being used.
I N T E R V I E W S
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> Are you using the ampersand sign different now compared to the beginning of your careeer? If I design my own lettering, then yes, its different, if not then I generally use the & in the font im using. Rarely do I substitute the & from another font. > Do you think there will be an increase in the use of the ampersand with computer and cell phone written text taking over? Guess so, but also see increased use of the + sign. > Why do you think the ampersand is so common on book covers? Its not common anywhere. > Do you have any favorite designs of the ampersand; custom or part of a typeface? Pobabaly Caslon as its so decorative. A really “fuckoff� ampersand. > Do you have any advice for someone designing an ampersand? Make sure it looks like one!
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bulent erkmen turkish graphic designer
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Ampersand ID Chart By Douglas Wilson
T Y P O G R A P H Y
octopus ampersand - toby triumph
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fig. X coffe and cigarettes poster by viktor hertz
fig. X sex and the city poster by viktor hertz
ampersand campaign Why use and when you can use &. This is a campaign to encourage the use of the ampersand over the three character word ‘and’. The campaign is titled ‘why use and when you can use &.’ This was applied to a variety of products that were handed out as promotion for the form of the ampersand & its many forms within typography.
why use and when you can use ampersand - smb.
T Y P O G R A P H Y
why use and when you can use ampersand - smb.
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LIV
font aid IV: coming together On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake occurred approximately 16 miles (25km) west of Portau-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area. The International Red Cross estimates that three million people were affected by the quake, with as many as one million Haitians left homeless. In order to raise funds to expedite relief efforts The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) announced the launch of Font Aid IV, a project uniting the typographic and design communities. Type designers, graphic designers and other artists from around the world were invited to contribute artwork to be included in a typeface created exclusively for the Font Aid IV effort. The theme was “Coming Together” which was represented though a font consisting entirely of ampersands. Coming Together was made available for sale, with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders.
Font Aid: a Brief History Swedish type designer Claes Källarsson conceived of the initial Font Aid project in 1999. More than 25 type designers participated in designing a collaborative font, with proceeds going to UNICEF to help war and disaster refugees. In 2001, SOTA became involved when Stuart Sandler was inspired by Källarsson’s efforts and initiated Font Aid II. This second collaborative charitable typeface was created to benefit the victims of the September 11 tragedies in the US. The font was made up of almost 100 question mark glyphs contributed by designers from over 20 countries. In 2005, SOTA and Building Letters joined forces in Font Aid III to unite the typographic and design communities in raising funds to expedite relief efforts in countries affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis. More than 220 designers worldwide submitted over 400 glyphs for the collaborative typeface. With your support, Font Aid can continue its efforts to assist others in dire need of aid.
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coming together 2010
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T Y P O G R A P H Y
why use and when you can use ampersand - smb.
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M y
T Y P O G R A P H Y
why use and when you can use ampersand - smb.
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fig. X ampersand monkey
M Y
T Y P O G R A P H Y
fig. X inspirational sketches
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published in agreement with author craig conley.
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word history There are several different stories of how the name appeared. Some say that it was named after Ampére the famous inventor who supposedly wrote ampersands instead of ands. Others say that it comes from “Anvers and”, Anvers beeing the french name for Antwerpen. Back then many English books and printing machines came from there. The most probable and common explanation though is this: The name ampersand comes from England where it appeared in the early 18th century. At that time the character was so common that it was adopted as the 27th and last letter of the alphabet where it stayed until the early 20th century. As a result the English children had to recite “ex wy zed and per se and” at the end when learning the alphabet. Per means by it self and was a definition that was used when a letter could be used as a word by it self. When reciting it quickly and per se and started sounding like ampersand and was adopted into the dictionaries in the 18th century. Here you can see a dictionary of different kinds of names that has been published according to author and historian Craig Conley.
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abc–and: Francis Green, West Wales Historical Records, 1926 This variation of Welch origin, establishes the ampersand as coming at the end of the alphabet, an “and” after the “abc’s.” amberesand: Manchester City News, Dec. 31, 1881 This spelling is derived from the French name for Antwerp, Anvers, a presumed origin of the symbol. ambersand: Jack Grapes, Onthebus, 1989. “ When the ambersand (&) is looped in a high degree, there will be a protective, loyal nature present.” – Richard Dimsdale Stocker, The language of handwriting: A Textbook of graphology, 1904 amersand: “He uses the amersand, then the word and.” – Elizabeth Evans, Ring Lardner, 1979 amp: This is a term from digital circuit theory (combinational logic). “The ‘&’ (ampersand ) character is commonly referred to as an ‘amp” –Clive Maxfield, The Design Warrior’s Guide to FPGAs, 2004 ampassy: James Hooper, The Gentlemen’s Magazine, July 1892 This word is of Cornish origin. “The whole lot from A to Ampassy.” –Arthur Thomas Quiller–Couch, Shining Ferry, 1904 ampassy–and: Charles Earle Funk, Thereby Hangs a Tale, 1950 This word has been traced back to the English town of Corringham, Essex. am–passy–and: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 This is a word from colloquial English slang. ampasty: Alfred Langdon Elwyn, Glossary of Supposed Americanisms, 1859
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ampazad: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 The “zad” at the end of this word recalls the “zed” or Z of the alphabet, traditionally followed by the ampersand ( here shortened to “ampa” ). This is a word from colloquial English slang. amper: The New Hacker’s Dictionary, 1991 This word is a shorthand in the hacking community. ampers: “Ampers is a corruption of ‘and per se.” –Douglas Macmillan, Word–lore, 1928 ampersamand: “Other generations may yet speak of an ‘ampersand and,’ and then of an ‘ampersamand.” –George Gibson Neill Wright, The Writing of Arabic Numerals, 1952 ampers and: Douglas Macmillan, Word-lore, 1928 “All the way through the alphabet to Z and Ampers And.” –Donald Davidson, The Big Ballad Jamboree, 1996 amper’s and: Harry Alfred Long, Personal and Family Names, 1883 “Lumping together X,Y,Z and Amper’s and.” –Jessie Bedford, English Children in the Olden Time, 1907 ampersand: This spelling of the word dates back to the mid–19th century. “Ampersand is an ‘honorary’ letter. It used to be the 27th letter in the alphabet” –John Burkhardt, “Wordplay,“ 2002 “It is one of the worst things about our detestable time that this ancient ... thing ‘ampersand’ is forgotten” –Hilaire Belloc, On, 1923 “Is this end or ampersand?” –Norman MacCaig, Collected Poems, 1985 “I envy the hyphen, the ampersand, whatever bargain they’ve made for beauty.” —Brenda Hillman, Fortress: Poems, 1989 ampersand–and: “Other generations may yet speak of an “ampersand and,“ and then of an ‘ampersamand.” –George Gibson Neill Wright, The Writing of Arabic Numerals, 1952 ampersandwich: Bill D. Rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com, 2008 This is a crossword puzzles term, referring to an answer that contains a conjunction between two initials.
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amperstand: “It was a beautiful gold ring with their initials, Y&L, in the center; instead of an amperstand, there was a small diamond.” –Anne Hemingway, The Colour of Love, 2004 ampersant: In this corruption of the word, the ending “ant” seems to ignore its origin as “and.” –Prof. Joynes recalls saying “ampersant” “without the slightest idea... that it contained any trace of the word and” (qtd. in Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol.2, 1893) amperse–and: Gilbert Milligan Tucker, American English, 1921 This spelling of ampersand appears in several Mother Goose rhymes. For example, “Z and amperse-and go to school at command ” ( Mother Goose’s Melodies for Children, 1869). amperzand: James Hooper, The Gentlemen’s Magazine, July 1892 “My nice little amperzand/Never must into a word expand.” – Punch, April 17, 1869. –Edward Johnston, Writing and Illuminating and Lettering, 1906. “Webster, moreover, advertises us that & is no letter–the goal of every breathless, whip-fearing, abcdarian’s various strife, the high–sounding Amperzand, no letter! Mehercule!” –Sylvester Judd, Margaret, 1845 amperze–and: John Russel Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms, 1848 This variation has been traced to the English county of Hampshire amperzed: Gilbert Milligan Tucker, American English, 1921 The “zed ” at the end of this word recalls the letter Z, traditionally followed by the ampersand ( here shortened to “amper” ). This is a word from colloquial American slang. ampezant: Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol.2, 1893 The “zant” at the end of this word recalls the letter Z, traditionally followed by the ampersand ( here shortened to “ampe” ).
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ampleasant: James Mitchell, Significant Etymology; or, Roots, Stems, and Branches of the English Language, 1908 In this pleasant-sounding variation, the ending “ant” seems to ignore its origin as “and.” ample–se–and: Wilfred Whitte, Is It Good English?, 1925 This is likely a Victorian-era contraction of “and by itself and,” similar to ableselfa (“a by itself a”) (Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol.2, 1893) ampsam: Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol.2, 1893 This is a variation from Framingham, Massachusetts ampus: James Hooper, The Gentlemen’s Magazine, July 1892 This is a contraction of ampusand. ampusand: James Hooper, The Gentlemen’s Magazine, July 1892 “He thought it [the letter z] had only been put there to finish of th’ alphabet like, though ampusand would ha’ done as well.” –George Eliot, Adam Bede, 1859 ampus–and: The Cambridge Review, 1882 The satirical periodical Punch invented a character called Mr. Ampus-Annd: “All Mr. Ampus-Annd will say when asked for his view is: ‘You tell me” (1936). ampus–end: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 This is an example of colloquial English slang. ampussy: James Hooper, The Gentlemen’s Magazine, July 1892 The “pussy” has been likened to “a pussy–cat sitting up and raising its fore-paw!” ( Edward Walford, The Antiquary, Vol. XXXII, 1896 ). am pussy am: David Gibbs, Pentagram: The Compendium, 1993 ampussy and: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903. “I also found “ampussy and ” – I hardly know how to write it – remembered beyond the ocean.” – Edward Augustus Freeman, Some Impressions of the United States, 1883
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ampussy–and: Charles Earle Funk, Thereby Hangs a Tale, 1950 ampuzzand: M.A. Lower, Notes and Queries, Sept. 7, 1850 amsiam: Charles Earle Funk, Thereby Hangs a Tale, 1950 The word is of Kentish dialect. “Amsiam: always thus called by children, and named after the letter Z when saying the alphabet.” –Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1970 and–by–itself–and: Alfred Ainger, Notes and Queries, Dec. 2, 1871 “ Ride behind the sulky of And–by–itself– and.” –Charles Lamb, Mr. H, 1807 and–parcy: A glossary of North Country Words, 1829 This is an expression from Northern English dialect. It is a variation of parcy–and. andpassy: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 “Andpassy’ is the name that, as a boy, I used to hear given to this symbol.” –Vincent Stuckey Lean, Lean’s Collectanea, 1904 andpersand: Bim Sherman, The Century, 1878 This spelling was suggested alongside ampersand in Gilbert Milligan Tucker’s American English, 1921. and–pussey–and: Miscallaneous Notes and Queries, Vol. XII, 1894 and–pussy–and: Abram Smythe Palmer, The Folk and their WordLore, 1904 “And–pussy–and’ because its shape (&) suggests a pussy–cat sitting up and raising its fore–paw!” – Edward Walford, The Antiquary, Vol. XXXII, 1896. ann passy ann: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 This is a colloquial English expression.
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ann–pussy–ann: The ampersand “was allowed by some teachers to pass under the name ‘Ann–pussy–Ann,’ as I am advised by an ancient lady who never knew any other name for the character.” – Edward Shippen, “ Educational Antiques,” Pennsylvania School Journal, Sept. 1874 anparse: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This is a contraction of “and per se,” from Enlish slang. anparsil: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This variation has been traced back to the dialect of Leeds, in northern England ( C. Clough Robinson, The Dialect of Leeds and Its Neigbourhood, 1862 ). anparsy: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This variation is an example of Yorkshire dialect ( Marmaduke Charles Frederick Morris, Yorkshire Folk-Talk, 1892 ). anpassal: This is a contraction of “and parcel,” from Yorkshire dialect. “Anpassal is the finish of the alphabet, and means, I suppose, and parcel” – Samuel Dyer, Dialect of the West Riding of Yorkshire, 1891. anpasty: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 In the dialect of East Anglia, this word means “and past Y” ( even though the ampersand technically coems after the letter Z ) ( Robert Forby, The vocabulary of East Anglia, 1830. ) an-pasty: James Mitchell’s Significant Etymology; or, Roots, Stems, and Branches of the English Language, 1908 This is a variation of the East Anglican word meaning “and past Y.“ anpusan: This is a “careless and hurried” pronunciation of ampersand – Edward Shippen, “ Educational Antiques,” Pennsylvania School Journal, Sept. 1874. anversand: Manchester City News, Dec. 31, 1881 This spelling presumes the ampersand’s origin in the printing presses of Antwerp ( Anvers in French ).
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aperse–and: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 This is a contradiction of “and per se and.” apersey: James Hooper, The Gentlemen’s Magazine, July 1892 This Scottish variant of ampersand also refers to a person of incomparable merit. apersie: James Hooper, The Gentlemen’s Magazine, July 1892 This is a variant spelling of the Scottish apersey, referring to a person of incomparable merit as well as to an ampersand. appersi–and: John Ogilvie, The Imperial Dictionary of the English Language, 1883 apples–and: M.A. Lower, Notes and Queries, Sept. 7, 1850 This corruption of the word ampersand suggests that comparing variations of the word is like comparing apples and oranges. It is likely a Victorian–era contraction of “and by itself and,” similar to ableselfa ( “a by itself a” ) ( Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol. 2, 1893 ). dingus: This word is used when the speaker can’t recall the word ampersand. “I have lived half-century without ever knowing that dingus –‘&’–was called the ampersand!” –R.H. John, Time, Jan. 18, 1932 do–jiggy: Karlen Evins, I Didn’t Know That, 2007 Language expert Karlen Evins calls the ampersand a “do–jiggy” ( I Didn’t Know That, 2007 ). This epithet is perhaps kinder than “thingumabob” and certainly more precise than “whatchamacallit.” doohickey: This word is a blending of doodad and hickey and is used when the speaker can’t remember the word ampersand. “I do so love the name of this doohickey. ‘Ampersand’ gives me a symbolistic lexiconical boner, it does” – M.Loy, humor.darkfriends.net, Dec. 21, 2001
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Emperor’s hand: “The sign & is said to be properly called Emperor’s hand, from having been first invented by some imperial personage, but by whom deponent saith not.” – William Shephard Walsh, Handy-book of Literary Curiosities, 1892 empersi–and: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 “A shrivelled, cadaverous, neglected piece of deformity, i’ the shape of an ezard or an empersi-and, or in short anything.” –Charles Macklin, The Man of the World, qtd. in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant by Albert Barrère, 1889 emperzan: “ Tommy knew all about the work. Knew every letter in it from A to Emperzan.” Pett Ridge, In the Wars, qtd. in The Romance of Words by Ernest Weekley, 1911 empus–and: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This colloquial English expression recalls the Emperor’s hand variation. empuzad: M.A. Lower, Notes and Queries, Sept. 7, 1850 This corruption of ampersand is also noted in Wilfred Whitten’s Is it Good English?, 1925 epershand: John Williams Clark, Early English, 1967 This Scottish equivalent of ampersand ( The Encyklopedia Brittannica, 1911 ). eppershand: Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, Vol. 2, 1893. This is a variant spelling of the Scottish epershand. epse–and: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This variation is from colloquial English. et–per–se: Douglas Macmillan, Word–lore, 1928 This expression recalls the Latin roots of the ampersand. et–per–se–and: The Journal of American Folk-Lore, 1894 Literally meaning “et by itself, and,” this expression recalls the Latin roots of the ampersand.
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hampersand: This is an “English rustic” variation of ampersand; it also means “empire’s end” – Harry Alfred Long, Personal and Family Names, 1883. man per se: William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, 1602 Like apersey, this expression refers to a person of incomparable merit. parcy–and: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This is an expression from Northern English dialect. It is a variation of and-parcy ( A Glossary of North Country Words, 1829 ). parseyand: Edward Peacock, A Glossary of Words in the Wapentakes of Manley and Corringham, 1877 From Northern English dialect, this is a variation of and–parcy ( A Glossary of North Country Words, 1829 ). passy: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This is a reduction of passy-and passy–and: Joseph Wright, The English Dialect Dictionary, 1961 This is a variation of andpassy percy–and: T.Baron Russel, Current Americanisms, 1897 This expression is from American dialect. perse: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 Meaning “Standing by itself,” this is a reduction of “and per se.” round and: In typesetting, the ampersand is “sometimes called the round and.” –Alexander A.Stewart, The Printer’s Dictionary of Technical Terms, 1912 . semper and: William Halloway, A General Dictionary of Provincialisms, 1840 This colloquialism has been traced back to East Sussex, England.
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short and: Vincent Stuckey Lean, Lean’s Collectanea, 1904 This variation, used by typesetters, acknowledges the ampersand symbol as being a short form of “and” ( George Burnham Ives, Text, Type and Style, 1921). thingy: “Hey, ther’s that ‘and’ thingy again.” –Robert J. Sawyer, Rollback, 2007 typewriter and: “You really think there’s a significance to the use of the ampersand which for years I called the ‘typewriter and.’ It’s like the choice of saying ‘They are not,’ or ‘They ain’t.’ They’re both correct, but they both connate a different placement within society.” –Lawrence Weiner, Interviewed by Marjorie Welish, Bomb Magazine, Winter 1996 zempy zed: James Mitchell, Significant Etymology; or, Roots, Stems, and Branches of the English Language, 1908 This variation celebrates the ampersand’s alphabetical proximity to the letter Z. zumpy–zed: Abram Smythe Palmer, Folk–Etymology, 1882 This colloquialism draws attention to the ampersand’s alphabetical proximity to the letter Z. zumzy–zan: John Stephen Farmer, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, 1903 This is a colloquial English expression.
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R G S E ?
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& & & lydian mt
trebuchet ms
aller
& & & nite club
itc korinna
quicksand
& & & kolo lp
bauhaus
prestige elite
& & & courier
stone sans itc
interstate
& & & LXXVIII
myriad pro
lucida grande
ocr b
& & & neutra text
frutiger lt
folio
& & & itc franklin gothic lt
din 1451
futura
& & & helvetica
monaco
tahoma
& & & R E G I S T E R
univers lt
akzidenz grotesk
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orator
& & & gill sans
avenir lt
itc avant garde gothic
& & & arial
vag rounded
trade gothic lt
& & & verdana
fago
penumbra sans
& & & LXXX
itc caslon 224
adobe caslon pro
sabon lt
& & & bembo
bodoni
didot
& & & palatino
cochin lt
galliard
& & & trajan
gaudy modern mt
minister
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& & & baskerville
bell mt
garamond premier pro
& & & walbaum
electra lt
times new roman
& & & minion
arno pro
hoefler
& & &
new century schoolbook lt
georgia
impressum
& & & LXXXII
baskerville italic
bell mt italic
adobe caslon pro italic
& & & palationo italic
kepler italic
gaudy modern mt italic
& & & bembo italic
american typewriter
caecilia lt
& & & serifa
memphis lt
rockwell
R E G I S T E R
& & & garamond premier italic
electra lt italic
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minion italic
& & & sabon lt italic
arno pro italic
cochin lt italic
& & & galliard italic
hoefler italic
berling italic
& & & didot italic
walbaum mt italic
bauer bodoni italic
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walrus
ericsson capital
sneaker script
& & & umbra
sinaloa
p22 bifur
& & & mojo
fette fraktur lt
princetown let
& & & zebrawood
rosewood
adobe wood type ornaments
R E G I S T E R
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Conley, Craig. Ampersand, Lexington, KY, 2011 Gaudy, Fredric. Hedlund, Monica. Konsten att säga och, installationsföreläsning för professur, 2002 Heine, Arne. Arnes alfabet E, Populär Kommunikation 6/08 Smith, G. Roland. Ampersands & oddments, skriber publications, Hadlow Tonbridge, Kent, 2009 Tschichold, Jan. Formendwandlungen der et-zeichen, 1936 http://www.decodeunicode.org, 23 march, 2011
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