The origin of the word ampersand, which I had always blithely assumed was a technical term used by printers.
Not according to the OED, quoting ‘almost all the dialect Glossaries.’ It supposedly dates back to the time when children learned an alphabet which contained 27 letters – the 26 which they are taught today + the familiar curly symbol for and.
When chanting their alphabet the children were supposed to call the symbol ‘and, per se, and’ (and, by itself, and) – but of course time & sloppy pronunciation corrupted it.
Picture acknowledgement: Font Aid a project that brings together designers who create a themed font that is then sold to raise money for charity. The fourth project created a font called Coming Together, full of great Ampersands and the money goes to Doctors Without Borders.
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