The origin of the symbol @
The symbol is familiar to all of us. The lower case letter a with a circle around it is referred as " at ". It is commonly used in email addresses.
The symbol has different meanings in different languages.
Before it became the symbol for electronic mail , the @ symbol is used to represent the cost or the weight of something.
For ex : If we purchase 6 apples for Rs. 60 , we can write it as apples each @ Rs. 10.
But history tells us some thing else.
Before the invention of printing machine, each word had to be painstakingly transcribed by hand. At that time, people tried a trick. Instead of writing the whole word, people used to find ways to shorten it so that their work will be less.
They invented this : instead of writing " at " , which is used many times in an article , they used the symbol @ . Because of electronic mail , it is well known to all.
The symbol is familiar to all of us. The lower case letter a with a circle around it is referred as " at ". It is commonly used in email addresses.
The symbol has different meanings in different languages.
Before it became the symbol for electronic mail , the @ symbol is used to represent the cost or the weight of something.
For ex : If we purchase 6 apples for Rs. 60 , we can write it as apples each @ Rs. 10.
But history tells us some thing else.
Before the invention of printing machine, each word had to be painstakingly transcribed by hand. At that time, people tried a trick. Instead of writing the whole word, people used to find ways to shorten it so that their work will be less.
They invented this : instead of writing " at " , which is used many times in an article , they used the symbol @ . Because of electronic mail , it is well known to all.
