{"id":2022,"date":"2019-09-20T16:15:26","date_gmt":"2019-09-20T16:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/?p=2022"},"modified":"2024-04-20T23:05:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T23:05:25","slug":"fun-facts-23-ampersand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/blog\/2019\/09\/20\/fun-facts-23-ampersand\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun Facts About English #23 – Ampersand"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Fun<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it would be better to say, “the & glyph was per se<\/em> the 27th ‘character’ included with the alphabet.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"variations<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Latin, the ampersand represents a cursive<\/a> combination of the two letters E<\/em> and T<\/em> and is pronounced et<\/em>, or and<\/em> in English. Around the time when Old English was shedding its runic characters<\/a> and adopting the Latin alphabet, the & ligature arrived as part of the orthographic package, and to this day continues to be used to represent the word and<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"19th
Early 19th-century alphabet chart.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Why is called an ampersand?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The ampersand was included in schoolbooks as the 27th letter of the English alphabet until the mid 19th century. It was understood not as a vowel or consonant, but as a useful symbol, added to the hind end of the alphabet, and simply known as and<\/em>. Today, when we recite the ABCs, we often say “X, Y, and Z.” Two centuries ago, children’s chants included and<\/em> (&) as the last letter. To say “X, Y, Z, and and<\/em>” was a bit awkward, so the Latin phrase per se<\/em> – meaning “by or in itself “- was inserted. In recitations, it sounded like this: X, Y, Z, and per se and (&). Eventually, and-per-se-and<\/em> slurred into ampersand<\/em>, a mondegreen<\/a> that we use today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the late 1800s, the word ampersand<\/em> also became a slang term for “rear end, posterior, or the buttocks.” Over time, the & glyph was de-classified within the alphabet, its usage decreased, and today is often frowned upon when used in modern writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you enjoyed this post, you might also be interested in the awesome history of dude<\/em><\/a> or the origins of paddywhack<\/em><\/a> from the song, “This Old Man!” Check out why the word rooster<\/em> is a preferred euphemism<\/a> in the United States!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the previous<\/a> or next<\/a> Fun Facts About English<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Donald's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Visit Donald’s English Classroom<\/a> where you’ll find a host of downloadable ESL textbooks<\/a>, flashcards<\/a>, charts<\/a>, and games<\/a> for your youngest English language learners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe it would be better to say, “the & glyph was per se the 27th ‘character’ included with the alphabet.” In Latin, the ampersand represents a cursive combination of the two letters E and T and is pronounced et, or and in English. Around the time when Old English was shedding its runic characters and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[94],"tags":[132,108,1488,20,593,859,96,596,11,586,143,1487,1486,1402],"class_list":["post-2022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fun-facts-about-english","tag-alphabet","tag-ampersand","tag-character","tag-donalds-english-classroom","tag-etymology","tag-evolution","tag-fun-facts-about-english","tag-history","tag-kinney-brothers-publishing","tag-language","tag-latin","tag-ligature","tag-symbol","tag-typography","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/023.jpg?fit=1252%2C1252&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8GlQB-wC","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2022"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11087,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2022\/revisions\/11087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kinneybrothers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}