Word of the day - Ampersand

Etymology (AKA - the History of a word or statement.)

For years and years, I only rarely heard this word, but lately, I've heard ampersand at least ten times in the last week or two. After hearing it again last night, on a TV show about a spy, I thought I'd share it as my Word of the Day (WOTD).

The word ampersand is a corruption of the phrase "and (&) per se and", meaning "and (the symbol ) intrinsically (is the word) and".

In the early 1800s, school children reciting their ABCs concluded the alphabet with the 27th letter &. It would have been confusing to say “X, Y, Z, and.” Rather, the students said, “and per se and.” “Per se” means “by itself,” so the students were essentially saying, “X, Y, Z, and by itself and.” Over time, “and per se and” was slurred together into the word "ampersand." The term had entered common English usage by 1837.


By the way, when a word comes about from a mistaken pronunciation, it’s called a mondegreen. Find out why here.
Read more at http://hotword.dictionary.com/ampersand/#Ly1uVf3u7EkRIvqD.99