This feature was first published in May 2025 in My Mensa Weekly, our exclusive newsletter for Mensa members. Find out more about becoming a Mensa member here.
Words: Andrew Cattanach
Modern written language is remarkably versatile, considering its modest means. A standard QWERTY keyboard offers just 104 or so keys – enough to produce around 95 characters, including a few dozen special symbols. And yet, using this limited set, we generate everything from shopping lists and sonnets to source code and social media.
Among these characters are a few that have evolved far beyond their original, often obscure functions to become cultural icons of the digital age. Take @, & and #, for instance – once mere abbreviations or typographic afterthoughts, they are now central to our online lives, shaping how we connect, organise and express ourselves.
In this article, we explore the curious trajectories of these three symbols – how they emerged, what they meant and how they came to define the way we communicate today.
@
In 1971, while developing the first networked email system to run over ARPANET – a forerunner of the internet – Ray Tomlinson needed a way to separate the user’s name from the host computer. “I looked at the keyboard,” he later recalled, “and I thought: ‘What can I choose here that won’t be confused with a username?’ If every person had an ‘@’ sign in their name, it wouldn’t work too well. But they didn’t.” And so, the @ symbol was plucked from obscurity and launched on an extraordinary digital journey.
Though its origins are somewhat lost to history – perhaps a ligature of two characters – the @ sign has long been associated with the Latin ‘ad’, meaning ‘to’, ‘toward’ or ‘at’. By the 16th century, it was commonly used in trade and accounting to signify ‘at the rate of’, as in: 12 yds. muslin @ 3s 4d = £2.
Today, the @ sign is not only central to email addresses but has become integral to platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (now X), where users deploy it to tag, direct and draw attention in online conversations.
Did you know? Before the internet boom, the @ symbol was little known outside professional circles. In the UK, it was typically called the ‘commercial a’, a nod to its use in trade and accounting. Elsewhere, however, people were more imaginative: in Italy it became the chiocciola (snail), in Germany the Klammeraffe (spider monkey) and in Israel it was dubbed shtrudel (as in the pastry).
&
In 1953, German typographer and design historian Jan Tschichold published a short but fascinating essay tracing the evolution of the ampersand. The earliest known example, he noted, comes from a piece of graffiti on a wall in Pompeii – preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. From these humble beginnings as a ligature joining the letters e and t (from the Latin et, meaning ‘and’), the symbol evolved through the medieval period and into the early modern era, becoming the elegant yet expressive character we recognise today.
The ampersand was even taught in English schools as the 27th letter of the alphabet. Its curious name comes from a slurred bit of classroom recitation. In the 19th century, when children referred to a letter that was also a standalone word, like ‘a’ or ‘I’, they would say “per se a,” meaning ‘a by itself’. When reciting the alphabet, the final line became: “… X, Y, Z and per se and”. Over time, ‘and per se and’ morphed into the single word ampersand.
Today, the symbol has found fresh life in the modern world. It’s a stylish staple of branding – used by companies like M&S, Black & Decker and Dolce & Gabbana – and remains a vital part of programming syntax in many computer languages.
Did you know? Variants of ‘and per se and’ were once in common use, including such curiosities as ‘and-pussy-and’, ‘ampazad’ and ‘zumzy-zan’.
#
This versatile symbol, known as the number sign, hash or octothorpe (though many now call it a hashtag due to its association with Twitter, where it denotes a tag), has its origins in Latin – or so the theory goes. The Roman term for a pound in weight was libra pondo, often abbreviated as ‘lb’ in ledgers. Over time, this abbreviation led to the creation of a ligature, from which the hash sign emerged. As is often the case, the symbol evolved beyond its original purpose and now serves a variety of functions.
Most commonly, it is used to abbreviate the word ‘number’, as in ‘Room #5’ or ‘#10 scalpel blade’. In the mid-20th century, Bell Telephone Laboratories introduced a new touch-tone telephone system, replacing the older, slower pulse-dialling system. The original touch-tone system was based on a 4 x 4 grid, but with only ten digits (0-9), there were two unused spots. The first commercial handset with the hash and asterisks in these free positions was released in 1968, but it wasn’t until the rise of voicemail in the early 1980s that the # button saw widespread use.
Today, # has become a cultural phenomenon. In 2007, Twitter user Chris Messina suggested using the symbol to label posts, helping direct users to relevant content and track trends. The hashtag #MeToo gained widespread prominence in 2017 after allegations of sexual abuse against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein surfaced, drawing global attention to the prevalence of sexual harassment and abuse. The movement sparked an unprecedented wave of solidarity, with millions sharing their experiences, and its impact continues to reverberate today, influencing high-profile legal cases.
Did you know? The origin of the word ‘octothorpe’ is unclear, but one theory suggests that a Bell Labs employee, while discussing the symbol, accidentally burped – and the resulting name stuck.
The history behind everyday symbols
Explore the rich histories and surprising origins of symbols such as the pilcrow, interrobang, emojis and more at author Keith Houston’s elegantly designed website.
Credits: Shutterstock
