Fun with written English symbols
Written English Symbols
This is the second of series about English fun facts. It is about a few common written English symbols. You can read the first part here.
- The ‘#’ symbol has many names in normal usage: pound sign, number sign, hash or hashtag.
- When a comma is placed in front of the word ‘and’ at the end of a list it is called a “serial comma”, or an “Oxford comma”. For example: “For dinner I ate chicken, rice, and salad.” There are many, many, more uses of the comma.
- The ‘@’ symbol is call the “at sign”, the “at symbol”, or the “commercial at”. It was originally used to mean “at a rate of” for accounting and billing. Now it is mostly used as part of an email address.
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