Ampersands
Language Log cites articles claiming that an ampersand conveys "hipness and modernity." To me at least, an ampersand conveys just the opposite of modernity, a retro air (although I suppose it could be both hip and retro).Contrast the old-timey flavor of Smith & Company with the more modern Smith, Inc., Smith LLC, and smith.com.
And as for computer technology spreading ampersand usage among the young, poor old Barnes & Noble couldn't even use an ampersand in their URL, but had to be barnesandnoble.com. In many computer contexts (for example, HTML), adding an ampersand to text is no easier than adding a letter from the Greek alphabet.
posted by Richard Mason @ Friday, November 11, 2005
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