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| Logo @ |
PURWAKARTA – Understanding Symbols, What is a Symbol? Etymologically the term “symbol” is absorbed from the word symbol in English which is rooted in the word symbolicum in Latin. Meanwhile in Greek the words symbolon and symballo, which are also the root of the word symbol, have several generic meanings, namely “to impress”, “mean”, and “attractive”. In the history of thought, symbols have two very different meanings. In religious thought and practice, symbols are commonly regarded as emanations of the Transcendent Reality. In systems of logical and scientific thought, the term symbol is usually used in the sense of an abstract sign.
There are many symbols in this world and one of them is the ‘@’ symbol or commonly known as ‘at’.
The use of the ‘@’ symbol is familiar, especially in electronic mail (e-mail). In typography, the symbol is called the “At sign”.
However, in some countries, the name can vary. In Italy, for example, the ‘@’ symbol is called the slug symbol. It’s different again in the Netherlands who call it a symbol of “monkey tail”.
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| The @ symbol has been around since the Middle Ages |
Quoted from the Mental Floss page, the @ symbol is thought to have appeared in the Middle Ages. Many sources, such as the Oxford website and a book entitled ‘Letter by Letter: An Alphabetical Miscellany’, state that the symbol @ or at (in Indonesian means ‘on’ or ‘di’), comes from the Latin abbreviation, ‘ad’. . AD which means ‘to, toward, or at’ (to, towards, on). In addition, @ is also used to list the invoice price of the accounting sheet, such as 12 eggs AT one penny per egg (12 eggs @ one penny per egg).
The @ symbol is formally known in English as ‘commercial at’ (commercial at), perhaps due to its purely commercial use. However, it turns out that other places also have their own nicknames. Call it like in Italy, which calls it a ‘snail’ (snail or conch). Some even call it similar to strudel (a type of dry food (pastry) which is usually filled with sweets such as apple sauce, blueberry sauce and others from Austria) or cinnamon rolls.
Here are some @ symbols that we often encounter and use in everyday life.
1. @ on keyboard
A book entitled ‘Managing Web Usage in the Workplace’ states that since about 1880, the @ symbol had been on typewriters at that time.
2. @ for email address
Ray Tomlinson first used the ‘at’ symbol to format email addresses using the ARPAnet in 1971 for messages he sent to himself, from one computer to another to test the system. And the funny thing is, it turns out that he himself doesn’t remember what the message is because leadership isn’t that important.
3. @ on Twitter
If this one is very understandable, please, guys. The use of the ‘at’ symbol is used to mention someone’s account or reply to what he wrote.
Thank you, keep smiling (人 •͈ᴗ•͈)
