Today, we’re going to learn just how a little symbol is now @ the English dictionary. Yes, I do mean that curly little character that lives rent-free in your email address. Well, it has somehow managed to tango its way to the very beginning of the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. How do this happen, you ask?
Once, the '@' symbol was just a humble squiggle, lurking in the
shadows of commerce, minding its own business. It helped merchants and
accountants make sense of prices and quantities. Our little @ symbol was
content in its anonymity, a wallflower in the grand ballroom of grammar. But
then, as fate would have it, the digital age dawned. Suddenly, '@' found itself
catapulted from the dusty ledgers to the sparkling forefront of the internet.
The transition from commerce to email superstar was unexpected,
to say the least. '@' was like that quiet kid in class who suddenly becomes a
viral internet meme overnight. Then in the 21st century, some dictionary
gatekeepers decided, in a stroke of sheer, delightful absurdity, to give it a
place of honor. That’s because in the grand alphabetical order of things,
symbols trump letters. And so, '@' – yes, our humble, curly friend – became the
first 'word' in the dictionary.
In a world brimming with countless words, our linguistic champion
is not a word at all, but a symbol that probably didn't even dream of such
dizzying heights. The '@' symbol's ascent to dictionary fame is a testament to
the unpredictable, often nonsensical journey of language and communication. It’s a
reminder that sometimes, the most overlooked characters (literally) can have
the most fascinating stories.
But before we say that the first word in the dictionary isn’t a word at
all, it turns out this cheeky little symbol may mean a lot more than you think.
A Brief History of ‘@'
The '@' symbol began life as an unassuming character, born not
from the quill of a poet but the practical needs of commerce. Also known as the
“at sign”
or the “commercial at”, our squiggly friend has a long and
obscure history. It was first used in commerce and accounting to mean “at
the rate of” or “to, toward, or at.” Sometimes, it was, and still is,
used as a mathematical symbol for the average or mean value of a set of
numbers, as in “the class scored @ 85% on the test”.
Some sources trace its origin to the Latin word ad, meaning “to”
or “at.” Webopedia remarks that
some linguists argued that the symbol dates back to as early as the 6th or 7th
century! Also, I haven’t confirmed the source for this, but Wikipedia
tells me that there’s an earlier discovery of the at symbol being from the 14th
century.. Apparently, it was found "in
a Bulgarian translation of a Greek chronicle written by Constantinos Manasses in 1345. Held today in the Vatican
Apostolic Library, it features the @ symbol in place of the capital
letter alpha "Α"
as an initial in the word Amen; however, the reason behind it being
used in this context is still unknown. The evolution of the symbol as used
today is not recorded.”
Most other sources suggest it was derived from a unit of volume
called arroba, which was represented by an a with a circle around it. In any
case, the Britannica mentions that the earliest known use of the symbol in its commercial sense was in a 1536
letter from a Florentine merchant. In that specific case, according to
the Smithsonian Magazine, Francesco
Lapi used it to denote ‘amphorae,’ units of wine that were shipped
in large terra cotta jars.
Around the time, the ‘@‘ symbol would soon widely refer to a unit
of volume, that being an arroba. That means the capacity of a standard amphora,
which is something used to transport grain and wine by sea. According to an
article in the Guardian, at the end of the 16th century, an
arroba was equivalent to about 25 pounds or six gallons. In fact, in
Spanish and Portuguese, the ‘@‘ symbol is still called arroba.
In any case, this symbol was functional, efficient, and utterly
unremarkable, even if it was widespread in Mediterranean trade. Like that one
cousin at family reunions who's really good at taxes, it quietly hummed along
well into the 19th century without much of a peep outside of commerce and
accounting. In fact, the symbol didn’t even appear on a typewriter until 1885!
The ‘@‘ symbol languished in relative obscurity until 1971, when
a certain Ray Tomlinson decided '@' was the perfect symbol to separate a user's
name from their computer's in email addresses. He used the symbol in a test message
to himself using ARPAnet. It was a calculated decision: the symbol
was chosen because it was not commonly used in computer languages and it
conveyed the idea of being “at” a certain location. According to the Britannica, it was one of the
least utilized characters in ASCII, and had little potential for causing
confusion in the command lines of the operating systems of the day.
With that, '@' found itself thrust into the spotlight of digital
communication. From a simple, obscure commercial symbol to an internet
superstar, '@' became the Cinderella story of the keyboard. Its story is a
testament to the unpredictable twists of fate. One moment you're best
associated with mundane things like the price of wheat, and the next you're the
linchpin of digital identities worldwide.
This journey from commerce to digital celebrity is as humorous as
it is unlikely. '@' didn't just climb the ladder of symbolic significance, it
took an express elevator. It’s bewildering, amusing, and oddly inspiring. The ‘@‘ is
a symbol that reminds us that sometimes, the most significant roles are filled
by the most unexpected candidates. Even the simplest character can have a
starring role.
When Did ‘@‘ Become a Word in the English Language?
The dictionary is meant to be a place where language is pinned
down like butterflies in a collector's case. So, what happens when a symbol,
not quite a butterfly but more of a curious caterpillar, wriggles its way to
the front page? Of course, it would have to be put right at the beginning,
because in alphabetical order, symbols always lead the way.
After it was adopted by computer programmers and engineers to
format email addresses and social media handles, the use of ‘@‘ exploded. But,
it didn’t officially enter the dictionary until very much later. But, at some
point in the 21st century, the Oxford English Dictionary added the @ symbol to
its online edition, defining it as "denoting that someone or something is
at or on a particular place or domain.”
From what I can tell, it’s not in the official print dictionary,
but it certainly has an
entry on the online OED website, apparently from 2007. It’s also on the
Merriam-Webster online dictionary, which is how I learned about this
absurd development, apparently at some point in 2008.
What really gets me about the Merriam-Webster entry, though, is
that it’s not just a symbol for shorthand for “about” or approximately. It’s
actually come to be a verb, and as someone who watches many YouTube videos, I
know how many people expressly say “don’t @ me” on a regular basis. The
official ‘informal’ definition of @ as a transitive verb states: “to respond
to, challenge, or disparage the claim or opinion of (someone) —usually used in the phrase”
With all its rules and regulations, language is sometimes as
fluid as a river, other times as rigid as ice. We build structures around it,
create rules and order. Yet every so often, a little symbol like '@' comes
along to remind us that language is as much about playfulness as it is about
precision. In the end, language is a living, breathing thing, and sometimes it
likes to start a sentence with a symbol just for the fun of it.
What really cracks me up about the ‘@‘ symbol is just how many
names it has in languages around the globe. It
has various names in different languages, such as “snail” in Italian, “strudel”
in German, and “monkey tail” in Dutch. In
Hong Kong, it’s boringly just called ‘the at sign’ in Cantonese, though. The
'@' symbol's ascent to this prime position is a whimsical reminder of the
arbitrary nature of language and its organization. The inclusion of '@' at the
start of the dictionary playfully mocks this seriousness.
Also, in 2010, the Museum of Modern Art in
New York City acquired the ‘@“ sign to add into their design collection.
Per the linked article, their reasoning was as follows:
“(Ray) Tomlinson performed a powerful act of design that not
only forever changed the @ sign’s significance and function, but which also has become
an important part of our identity in relationship and communication with
others. His (unintended) role as a designer must be acknowledged and celebrated
by the one collection—MoMA’s—that
has always celebrated elegance, economy, intellectual transparency, and a sense
of the possible future directions that are embedded in the arts of our time,
the essence of modern.”
I don’t think I could put it any better than that, hence the
direct quote!
The Absurdity of Giving
Such Importance to a Curious Symbol
When you really think about it, importance is often bestowed upon
the grandiose and flamboyant. Yet, the '@' symbol, a character so simple that
it could have been doodled by a bored scribe in the margins of history, now
holds a place of cultural reverence. Its transformation from a ledger lurker to
a digital diva is nothing short of a fairy tale.
This symbol, once glanced over by the wandering eyes of
bookkeepers, now graces the presence of every email address and social media
handle, not to mention sketchy DM slides. The at sign’s journey to stardom
reflects the curious way in which our culture can assign importance to even the
simplest, most basic things.
Of course, the role of technology in
aggrandizing the importance can’t be overstated. It has become the great
enabler of the modern era, turning the most mundane trifles into iconic memes.
Before the digital age, no one could’ve reasonably foreseen
that a symbol used to denote pricing would one day become a cornerstone of our
digital identities.
This odd linguistic trajectory of the '@' symbol speaks volumes
about the seemingly arbitrary nature of significance. It suggests that
importance is less about inherent qualities and more about context and
perception. The story of the '@' symbol is a reminder that sometimes, the most
influential characters in our society are not the loudest or the most powerful,
but the ones that quietly find themselves in the right place at the right time.
In the end, the tale of the '@' symbol is a delightful nudge to
not take our constructs of importance too seriously. After all, if a simple
symbol can become a cultural icon, perhaps there's a bit of magic in the
mundane waiting to be discovered by each of us.
The #AbsurdityAppreciation Challenge
Today, let's embark on an expedition to explore what’s right in
front of us in our everyday lives. Your mission is to uncover the hidden lore
of an everyday object or symbol in your surroundings. Let’s call it
#AbsurdityAppreciation, a whimsical quest to find the extraordinary in the
utterly ordinary.
First, select your protagonist. It could be anything – the humble
paperclip lounging in disdain on your desk, the teaspoon stirring up a storm in
your coffee cup, or even the Wi-Fi symbol that plays digital god over your
internet connection. Any of these objects, which you might have overlooked a
thousand times, is about to have its fifteen minutes of fame in the theater of
your attention.
Now, dive into the history of how that object came to be.
Consider the paperclip, a twist of metal that holds our world together, one
sheet at a time. Who might have thought, in the grand scheme of invention, that
bending a wire could bring such order to our papers and lives? You could also
ponder the journey of the teaspoon, from the fiery forge to your morning brew,
a metallic Odysseus in the sea of kitchen utensils.
Reflect on that item’s significance with the amused curiosity of
a child discovering a hidden toy. Imagine the legion of paperclips, in their
quiet office drawers, dreaming of the day they'll finally bind the pages of a
great novel. Or you could imagine the teaspoon wondering if today's the day
it'll stir something more exotic than tea.
Finally, share your findings with a friend or an unsuspecting
family member. Watch their bemusement as you narrate the epic tale of the
paperclip or the teaspoon's secret life. This sharing isn't just about
spreading awareness of life’s absurdity.
It’s about connecting ourselves to a lineage that connects us to countless
hands, ideas, and moments. Lest we forget that we often unconsciously do so
through the simple, often overlooked wonders of our everyday world.
So, go ahead, give a voice to the voiceless objects around you.
Let their otherwise silent sagas add a bit of magic to your day.
Closing Thoughts
In researching this article about the '@' symbol, I’ve found my
own love affair with dictionaries rekindled. Each day now finds me flipping
through the dictionary, eagerly seeking out new words. It's like my daily
treasure hunt, only the X marks a new word rather than a chest of gold. Who
knew such a squiggly symbol could become such a muse?
While the '@' symbol is but a mere speck in the ocean of the
modern lexicon, it reminds us to appreciate the little things. After all, life
is just a collection of small moments strung together in a necklace of days.
So, here's a parting thought to carry with you: "If '@' can make it to the
top of the dictionary, imagine where I could end up if given the chance!"
Let this be your mantra for today, and for as long as you wish,
as you navigate the delightful chaos of life. Embrace the absurdities, the
quirks, the unexpected plot twists. Dance with them, laugh at them, and let
them remind you that the world is a playground of possibilities.
Remember, the beauty of life often lies in its unpredictability,
in the joy of discovering the extraordinary in the ordinary. So, as you go
about your day, keep an eye out for your own '@' symbol - your beacon of the
beautifully bizarre.
So, dear readers, here's to finding our own '@' moments. May they
lead us to places as unexpectedly wonderful as the top of the dictionary!
Be sure to @ me in the comments!
~ Amelia <3
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