Strike Up the And

I'm oddly happy to tell you that Word Wise has been named "one of the 5 best blogs for PR students" by Karen Russell, a professor of mass communications at the University of Georgia. The others are Common Sense PR, Communication Overtones, Scatterbox, and Greenbanana Views of Public Relations and More. None are for students per se, and all are worth reading for anyone who works in communications.

Ok, enough about me; no, really, stop. Oh, you. You shouldn't have. Ok, here's this week's tip...

The word "ampersand" (&) comes from the phrase & per se and, which means (the character) & by itself is the word "and." The symbol is a stylized version of the Latin word et, which means, shockingly, "and." However, though an ampersand is the symbol form of the word "and," it is not a substitute for the written-out word except in these very specific cases: •    where it is part of a company name (Abercrombie & Fitch) •    if space is very limited (such as in a small advertisement or headline) •    for artistic reasons (such as in a logo) •    in some computer languages (such as in JavaScript) •    in some academic references (Burke & Edison, 2002) Other than for the reasons above, always write out the word "and."

Note: Think about it this way: you wouldn't use the equal sign (=) instead of the word "equal" or the plus sign (+) in lieu of the word "plus," so nor should you use an ampersand instead of the perfectly good word "and."

Comments

[Karen Russell]

Considering how often people complain about PR grads not knowing how to write, it's not surprising that I link to you often. Here's hoping that between the two of us, we can bring about a few fewer complaints! :)

[Jeffrey Masten]

Random historical tidbit: in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (and later, according to the OED), "&c" is sometimes used in print to indicate what we would spell out (partially) as "etc."

[Laura Indergard]

Side note -
In the case of movie credits, the ampersand and the word "and" are not interchangeable. The symbol "&" would indicate that two people had worked together as a team, whereas the word "and" would indicate that two people had worked on the same project independently.

[Eric Eggertson]

I don't mind ampersands in copy writing, when it's to achieve an effect. Most headline writers use a comma in place of "and" if they're trying to save space, so I don't see the symbol in the news all that much.

But boy, it shows up all over the place.

What's your stand on using the per cent symbol in place of "per cent"? I find that use a lot easier to take because, I instantly recognize at a glance what's being communicated.

[Laura Indergard]

Side note-
In the case of movie credits, the ampersand and the word "and" are not interchangeable. The symbol "&" would indicate that two people had worked together as a team, whereas the word "and" would signify that two people had worked on the same project independently.

[Ragdoll]

I tend to use & in one other place, and that's in lists in which there is a "team," as Laura mentioned. Example: strawberry, choclate, banana nut, and peaches & creme.

I don't know if that's right, but I'd probably do it anyway.

[Veronica]

I know I'm a little late to the party, but I just had to comment on this post.

In one English lecture during my college career, the professor spent an hour and a half musing about the inconsistent usage of the ampersand and the word and in the Declaration of Independence. He was convinced there was a deeper meaning. To me, it's an argument for consistency. Better that people examine the meaning of your content than your choice of conjunction.