There are lots of creative names for the @, also known in English as the at-sign. In Denmark and Sweden, it’s sometimes called the snabel-a, or “elephant trunk.” In Italian, it’s a chiocciola, or “snail. In Greek, it’s a παπάκι, or “little duckling.” In German, it’s sometimes called a Klammeraffe or “spider monkey,” for the way it resembles such a monkey’s clinging tail. In Hebrew, it’s known colloquially as a “strudel,” or שְׁטְרוּדֶל, a name that likens the @ to a swirled cake. In the Middle Ages, this symbol was used in commerce in Spain and Portugal, where it was called the arroba. For a lively history of the use of the @ from its origins to its introduction in email addresses, check out Keith Houston’s delightful book, Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks. (Bookshop|Amazon) This is part of a complete episode.
When a British tabloid reporter writing about a crocodile attack needed a synonym for crocodile, he went with knobbly monster, now a joking term for similarly creative ways of avoiding repetition. Juliet and Matthew Maguire, described by The...
Sara in Camden, New Jersey, wants a word for those people who are more than acquaintances, but not quite friends. She calls them friendlies, but wonders if there’s a better term. Fracquaintance, maybe? The Danish band Mew has an album called...
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